#1 Ruby 2.7; Rails 6.0.2.rc1; Rails 5.2.4; `skunk`; and Rails 6.1 Improvements

Hey,

We're trying something new this month. We're compiling 5 links of relevant links in a bi-weekly newsletter. These news will be useful in your next Rails upgrade project. I hope you enjoy the first issue of 'Rails Upgrade News.'

Here are some news that are quite interesting, so we decided to share them:

1. Rails 6.1 adds *_previously_was attribute methods: This is quite useful if you rely on ActiveModel::Dirty within callbacks. It will tell you what the values were before you committed your changes. If you are still stuck on Rails 5.1, you will probably find these tips on cleaning up your callbacks super useful.


2. Escaping the tar pit at RubyConf 2019: We recently published `skunk`, a Ruby gem to provide a common language for assessing and paying off tech debt. I had the honor to present a talk about it at RubyConf 2019! ❤️


3. Rails 5.2.4 has been released: This is the final bug fix release of Rails 5.2, now it will only get security releases. If you are running Rails 5.2, you should upgrade today.


4. Rails 6.0.2.rc1 has been released: This release is loaded with fixes and improvements. If you are on Rails 6.0, give it a try. 🚀


5. Ruby 2.7 adds shorthand syntax for arguments forwarding: Ruby 2.7 added a new shorthand syntax `...` for forwarding arguments to a method.


    We are planning to share more updates every two weeks. I hope that you find them as interesting as we do. Open source moves fast and it is always good to keep up.

    All the best,

    Ernesto
    Founder & Software Engineer at fastruby.io (we upgrade your Rails app so you don't have to...)

    Don't wait to bring your Rails application up to date.

    We will get on a quick call and recommend a couple of options to start upgrading your Rails app.