Build Chatbot Interactions

What's this about?

Developers of all skill levels can craft user experiences that are natural, easy to use, and most of all, fun. Build chatbots using free, open source tools and launch them to popular chat platforms like Slack and Amazon’s Alexa. Use the Ruby programming language and the Lita bot framework to unlock fun and powerful chat abilities such as sending text messages and emails, creating new meme images, driving a robot around the room, and talking out loud on a home speaker.

Use frameworks available in Ruby and Node.js to get started quickly. Create simple chatbot skills that respond quickly to basic requests. Chain skills together for more complex interactions. Take advantage of test-driven development techniques to build your bots with confidence. Coordinate tasks with colleagues via bot. Connect with external APIs to provide users with data they need. Extract data information from web pages when an API isn’t available. Expand your bot’s reach with SMS and email messaging. Deploy a chatbot to a host so users can interact with it on their schedule.
Build a more responsive, easy-to-use interface for your users today.

What You Need
You don’t need much to get started with chatbots. A Mac or Linux computer with a recent version of Ruby is recommended. Windows users can keep up with a free virtual machine running Linux. You’ll deploy your chatbots for free (or at least cheaply) on cloud hosting platforms like Heroku and Digital Ocean.

You'll Learn

Author

Daniel Pritchett

Is a consulting programmer, speaker, and user group supporter in Memphis, Tennessee. He builds infrastructure tooling for internet companies. If it’s interesting and useful, Daniel wants to help you build it.