# Retrospective on Using Jumpstart Pro for a Rails Side Project

DevFeed: [Retrospective on Using Jumpstart Pro for a Rails Side Project](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/looking-back-jumpstart-pro-the-best-development-decision-i-made-in-2019-28253.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://fuzzyblog.io/blog/rails/2020/01/21/looking-back-jumpstart-pro-the-best-development-decision-i-made-in-2019.html>)

Author: Fuzzygroup

Published: 2020-01-21T00:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Scott Johnson](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/scott-johnson.md>)

Topics: [Rails](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/rails.md>), [Template](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/template.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>)

Tags: [app](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/app.md>), [back-end](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/back-end.md>), [css](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/css.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [email](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/email.md>), [front-end](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/front-end.md>), [html](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/html.md>), [jumpstart](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/jumpstart.md>), [projects](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/projects.md>), [rails](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rails.md>), [retrospective](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/retrospective.md>), [side-project](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/side-project.md>), [tests](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tests.md>)

## AI overview

The author reflects on choosing Jumpstart Pro, an application template for Rails projects, as a major development decision in 2019. They describe its prebuilt features, including Devise, Tailwind CSS, transactional email, HTML templates, and tested scaffolding, and recommend it for new projects.

## Source excerpt

I don't generally do the retrospective (save in an agile context) - I prefer to look forward. And, yes, I'll admit that given some of the crap in my personal life these days, there's a reason for that. Now, that said, I've been thinking back over my 2019 year and I wanted to comment on my single best development decision of 2019: Buying Jumpstart Pro was my single best development decision in all of 2019. Like a lot of developers out there, I'm a back end guy. Yes I can do front end stuff but it tends towards a local maxima that might best be defined as ugly or even, perhaps, fugly. And, now, I can happily say never again. Jumpstart Pro is an application template for your next Rails app that gives you: A prebuilt starting point where the things that you are going to do anyway are already done like devise like a CSS grid (Tailwind) like transactional email like html templates that look good like a scaffolding generator that is all setup including tests like ... I bought Jumpstart Pro back in August when I had a side project that I was already pretty deep into and since Jumpstart Pro is best for new projects, well, I put it aside - and that was stupid of me. I should have trusted that Chris Oliver, the author of Jumpstart, made Jumpstart awesome - because he did. When I finally realized how good Jumpstart was, well, I started a different side project because I wanted to experience Rails from his perspective. And now that I'm about to ship this new side project, the only thing I have to say is absolutely worth it. Best damn development decision I made in 2019. Recommended.