What David Heinemeier Hansson thinks about Ruby
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
David Heinemeier Hansson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
11 dated positions, 2024 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what David Heinemeier Hansson has said — not written or endorsed by them.
-
Their wordsThe language now is English. It's a cliche, but it's also true. Like I've been programming in English for the last three months. I've been reading a lot of code, but I'm programming in English. I'm telling the computer what to do, and I'm using natural language, and it is shockingly even more delightful. If there is one programming language more beautiful than Ruby, it is the English language.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com 33rd of 41 in this recording
- 5 months earlier
-
Their wordsI think in some ways Ruby Rails is having a little bit of a renaissance now that it is one of the most token efficient ways of building web apps. It's ideally suited for the agent workflows we're dealing with now. We'll see how long that lasts.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 1st of 20 in this recording
-
Their wordsanyone who's working with the web, who's working with Ruby, who's doing DevOps, they should be on Linux because first of all, that's closer to what we deploy.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 2nd of 20 in this recording
-
Our reading · no longer heldThe joy of a programmer is to type the code himself; promoting yourself out of that makes you a project manager of a murder of AI crows.
No longer holdsI have been hyper accelerated as a programmer. It's a different kind of programmer, but it still has the same affinity to aesthetics, at least when I'm producing Ruby code.
Saidthat's the biggest revelation actually more than even the capacity of the agents is my enjoyment running them.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 13th of 20 in this recording
- 9 months earlier
-
Their wordsMatz went the completely opposite direction. He believes in humanity. He believes in the unlimited capacity of programmers to learn and become better. So much so that he's willing to put the stranger at his own level.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 3rd of 36 in this recording
-
Our readingRuby must never get static typing: dynamic duck typing is the essence of what makes Ruby Ruby.
Their wordsIt's the essence of what makes Ruby Ruby. This is why I don't fully understand when people call for Ruby to add static typing. 'Cause to me, it's the bedrock of what this is.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 5th of 36 in this recording
-
Their wordsThey end up then I think writing it in some other language, which by the way I think is the best advertisement ever for Ruby on Rails, because nothing fucking happened for 10 years after they switched over, right?
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 7th of 36 in this recording
-
Their wordsRuby is a luxury language. It's a luxury, the highest luxury in my opinion. It is the Coco Chanel of programming languages. Something that not everyone can afford. And I mean this in the best possible way.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 8th of 36 in this recording
- 11 days earlier
-
Our readingRuby is probably his forever language, and he still tries new languages to widen the aperture.
Their wordseven though I love Ruby and I think Ruby probably is my forever language, I continue to hop into new languages and get a taste for them and try them.
↗DHH discusses Linux and Omarchyyoutube.com 8th of 9 in this recording
- 9 months earlier
-
Our readingRuby must never get static typing: dynamic duck typing is the essence of what makes Ruby Ruby.
Their wordsstatic typing is the one thing I will literally die on the hill for for Ruby
↗DHH Is Right About Everythingyoutube.com 4th of 8 in this recording
- 4 months earlier
-
Our reading · no longer heldRuby on Rails took off because its creator evangelized it by arguing its superiority against the competing alternatives.
Recalls holdingAnd for a long time, I thought that's what had worked. That this was why Ruby on Rails took off, became one of the most popular full-stack web frameworks of all time, inspired countless clones, and created hundreds of billions in enterprise value for companies built on it. But I was wrong. It wasn't the crusade that did it.
SaidAnd for a long time, I thought that's what had worked. That this was why Ruby on Rails took off, became one of the most popular full-stack web frameworks of all time, inspired countless clones, and created hundreds of billions in enterprise value for companies built on it. But I was wrong. It wasn't the crusade that did it.