Rails manifesto: Principles of a great programming language

`2:19:10`

that takes years. But you can actually become somewhat productive in a few days. You can have fun in a few days for sure. You're gonna have fun in a a few minutes and a few hours. And over time, I can teach you a little more. Active record says like, yeah, yeah. All right, start to here and then like next week we'll do a class on SQL. — And actually you have this beautiful expression that I love that that a great programming language. Like Ruby has a soft ramp, the ramp goes to infinity. — That's exactly right. — So yeah. It's super accessible, super easy to get started. — And it never stops. There's always more to learn. This is one of the reasons I'm still having fun programming. That I'm still learning new things. I can still incorporate new things. The web is deep enough as a domain. You're never gonna learn all of it. — Provide sharp knives. — This is a good one, because another way of saying this, the opposite way of saying this, the Java way of saying is do not provide foot guns, right? I don't wanna give you sharp knives. You're a child. You can't handle a sharp knife.

`2:20:10`

Here's a dull butter knife. Cut your damn steak, right? That's a very frustrating experience. You want a sharp knife even though you might be able to cut yourself. I trust humans in the same way that Matz trust humans. Maybe you cut off a finger. All right, you're not gonna do that again. Thankfully it was a virtual think finger. It's gonna grow back out. Your competence is gonna grow. It's more fun to work with sharp tools. — And that actually contributes to the the ramp that goes to infinity. — Yes, to the learning — Value integrated systems. — We kind of hit on that one. This is Rails is trying to solve the whole problem of the web, not just one little component. It's not leaving you a bunch of pieces. You have to put together yourself. — Progress over stability. — You know what? If there's one that's dated, it's probably that one. At this stage, Rails has been incredibly stable over many, many generations. The last major release Rails 8 was basically a no upgrade for anyone running Rail 7. Rail 7 was almost a no upgrade for anyone running Rail 6.

`2:21:12`

I used to think it required more churn to get progress to stay on the leading edge of new stuff. And I wrote this before I experienced the indignity of the 2010s in the JavaScript community. Where it seemed like stability was not just unvalued, it was actually despised that churn in and of itself was a value we should be pursuing. If you were still working with the same framework three months later you were an idiot. And I saw that and I actually recoiled. And if I was gonna write the doctrine today, I'd write that differently. I wouldn't say progress over stability. — Well maybe it'd be a function of the age of the programming language also. — Maybe, or a deeper understanding of the problem. I think part of what's so fascinating about technology is that we have this perception that everything constantly moves so fast. No, it doesn't. Everything moves at a glacial pace. There is occasionally a paradigm shift

`2:22:13`

like what's happening with AI right now. Like what happened with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, like what happened with the internet in '95. That's basically the total sum of my career. Three things changed. Everything else in between was incremental small improvements. You can recognize a Rails application written in 2003. I know because the Basecamp I wrote back then is still operating, making millions of dollars in ARR, servings in customers on the initial version that was launched back then. And it looks like the Rails code if I squint a little that I would write today. So most things don't change even in computing. And that's actually a good thing. We saw with the JavaScript ecosystem. What happens when everyone gets just mad about constant churn? Things don't change that often. — By the way, on that small tangent. You just sort of visibly, verbally changed your mind with the you of 15 years ago. — Yes. — That's interesting. Have you noticed yourself changing your mind