Michael Hartl
Independent Researcher at Self-employed
Los Angeles, California, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolMichael Hartl is an independent researcher and longtime software entrepreneur with 18 years of experience building educational products and developer tools, best known as the author of the Ruby on Rails Tutorial and founder of Learn Enough and Softcover. He has a Ph.D. in physics from Caltech and a background in theoretical astrophysics and teaching, which informs his rigorous, pedagogical approach to technical writing and tooling. Michael has been the hands-on full‑stack developer for the canonical Rails tutorial sample apps and related Learn Enough projects, shaping how thousands learn web development. After his companies were acquired in 2022 he pivoted to independent study in mathematics and theoretical physics while advising and investing in startups. Based in Los Angeles, he combines deep academic training with practical product-building and a talent for making complex subjects accessible. He prefers email contact and is focused on research and mentorship rather than social media outreach.
18 years of coding experience
11 years of employment as a software developer
Y CombinatorCalifornia Institute of TechnologyA.B., Physics, A.B., Physics at Harvard University
Stackoverflow
1,931reputation
256kreached
31answers
2questions
ruby
top-5%
ruby-on-rails
top-5%
Github Skills (39)
image-gallery10
javascript10
picture-gallery10
bootstrap10
image10
testing10
css10
rspec10
user-authentication10
authentication10
rails10
user-interface10
ui-design10
graphical-user-interface10
front-end-development10
Programming languages (10)
Github contributions (5)
learnenough/sample_app_6th_ed
Aug 2019 - May 2022
The main sample app for the Ruby on Rails Tutorial, 6th Edition
Role in this project:
Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:3198 commits, 9 PRs, 1772 pushes in 2 years 9 months
Contributions summary:Michael's contributions focused on building out the core functionality of a Ruby on Rails application. They implemented a static pages controller with home, help, and about pages, and set up named routes. The user also incorporated Bootstrap CSS for a custom layout and added a signup page. Additionally, they implemented a user model with validations, and established login/logout functionality.
ruby-on-railsrailsrubyruby-on-rails-tutorialrails-tutorial
learnenough/le_js_full
Mar 2018 - Jun 2022
The Learn Enough JavaScript to Be Dangerous gallery app
Role in this project:Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:17 commits, 12 pushes, 1 branch in 4 years 3 months
Contributions summary:Michael primarily focused on adding and modifying image elements within the gallery application. They implemented HTML to incorporate images, updated the gallery title and description, and modified image attributes and their associated data. The user’s commits demonstrate work on the user interface, particularly the visual presentation of images. They primarily worked within the HTML structure of the gallery application.
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