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Active Record 8: Resilient by Default

Databases crash, connections drop, and queries timeout at the worst possible moments. Rather than writing custom rescue code everywhere, Rails is revolutionizing how Active Record handles these inevitable hiccups.

This technical deep dive explores key improvements in connection management, error handling, and recovery strategies introduced in Rails 7 and optimized in Rails 8. You’ll learn how Active Record intelligently manages connection pools and retries failed queries.

Whether you’re running a massive production app or building a new side project, you’ll walk away knowing how to leverage these features to build applications that bend instead of break when database chaos strikes.

Hartley McGuire's photo

Hartley McGuire

Rails Issues Team & Senior Developer, Shopify