DHH - Ruby on Rails, 37signals, and the future of web development

This week we're joined by DHH, the co founder of 37signals, and the creator of Ruby on Rails. We talk about the future of web development, the history of Rails, and the evolution of the web. David also talks about his views on the longevity of software and ecosystems.
/ dhh
37signals.com
Episode sponsored By CodeCrafters (codecrafters.io/devtoolsfm) 40% Discount!
Episode sponsored By RunMe (runme.dev)
Become a paid subscriber our patreon, spotify, or apple podcasts for the full episode.
/ devtoolsfm
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
www.youtube.com/@devtoolsfm/m...
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:29 The Genesis and Impact of Ruby on Rails
00:04:27 The Aesthetic and Philosophical Approach to Programming with Ruby
00:09:32 Ad 1
00:11:15 Aesthetics Continued
00:23:49 Ad 2
00:24:23 The Moden Web
00:40:27 The Shift Away from Apple
00:55:16 Rethinking Cloud Dependency and Advocating for Simplicity in Web Development

[@rpf23543]

We need more DHH in this world. The world would be a better place!

[@jonatasdp]

DHH is also a great teacher! Love his enthusiasm decades dedicated for both business and open source!

[@jacksonstone693]

I've had that exact experience of walking back to a project with webpack after a year or two and nothing worked. Brutal and horrible feeling

[@ReeyWhaar]

DHH gradually descends into Gilbert Gottfried during the podcast

[@devtoolsfm]

It's truly a marvel to watch. When he starts yelling about H1s it kills me

[@jamesdenmark1396]

Amazing guy! I've learned so much from the Rails framework, including Active Record, MVC, migrations, and numerous principles and design patterns. truly opened my mind to look at coding in a different way. Thank you for this interview. His book, 'Getting Things Done,', 37signals

[@devtoolsfm]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Jensemann099]

Absolutely nuts! One of the best interviews ive ever seen.

[@user-xj5gz7ln3q]

Anyone else still using Ruby on Rails?

[@luizgarciaaa]

Yeah! Github, Airbnb, Stripe, Shopify...

[@LubomirHerko]

Yep. 10 years and counting. Glad I did not switch to anything else - even I was tempted to switch in the past.

[@tomasvalent3876]

I work with it since 2009 best decision ever, ...and yes market is good 💰

[@everson_vinicius]

yes and using the current versions of ruby and rails. I love it

[@shannonmariehauck]

I’m building a brand new product with it.

[@edwardo737]

Agree with DHH on the thought police. God forbid they get control of DNS servers or worse. Great interview guys.

[@_unknown_guy]

ICANN HO is in Cali...

[@pierbover]

I love hearing DHH ranting

[@spencerlong2745]

Bravo guys!, really good interview, you guys asked really good questions and let David speak, he's so inspiring to listen to, 10/10 👏👏👏.

[@stulindenjr]

@devtoolsfm Great Podcast with DHH. I am beginning to learn Ruby as my first programming language.

[@88onage]

Hadn't laughed that hard in a while 😂 Glorious!

[@frockygarcia2004]

Great video!

[@DamianDemasi]

Such a great interview! Thanks for sharing it 😊

[@SR-ti6jj]

DHH goes hard in the paint!

[@rosselur]

I didn't know Gerald Undone did coding stuff. But it makes sense, smart guy.

[@PankajDoharey]

DHH on typescript: Yeah a dog barfed it up but ... yada yada yada😝

[@devtoolsfm]

I personally enjoy the aesthetic of the dog barf. But to each their own!

[@nexovec]

Alternative title: Cloud as an aversion to computers

[@mikemargerum6441]

Completely agree with DHH. Typescript is a total slog to write. I actually find JS incredibly expressive and powerful. I don't enjoy writing ceremony code.

[@Kpil3]

I've started really disliking it too. Even for client code. And I don't think it helps that much. Something like Rust - yeah I get it and I can appreciate it. But I think a lot of people just use Typescript so something happens when they press dot in their IDE's...

[@user-nj3lp5pp3l]

C'mon, ur not that old. And young in your heart, that's what matters anyway.

[@zGrowthLabs]

DHH cooked here 😂🔥🔥

[@deersakamoto2167]

I want DHH to switch to VSCodium and make fun of vim users (mostly Primeagen) for its poor usability. That'd be fun contents to watch (from both ends)

[@kkomelin]

Someone tell this guy that Apple has already reversed their decision re PWA

[@shannonmariehauck]

Mechanical keyboards are the best.

[@richardflosi]

Yay 🎉 no bundlers

[@uleih]

I was once told, honest people like to swear, and that fucking dude is create, even there is some parts I don't agree with him.

[@richardflosi]

No build, no break 😂

[@abdusuf523]

I always hated apple. windows & linux r good enough and the hardware u get which is cheaper and more powerful than expensive mac .. It is sad that ruby on rails has no love for windows Maybe things will change

[@poulticegeist]

Wdym Ruby on rails has no love for windows. It runs just fine

[@ivan.jeremic]

What is this dude even talking about?😂 I know he is respected and so on but why is he constantly repeating that for some reason javascript code will stop running in a few years, javascript is stable and will not break so can somebody explain this to him? Also all the hate about bundlers and package managers and packages like is-odd which is more like a meme and nobody will really use it once out of the learning phase, the numbers on these packages will always be high because of nonsense tutorials. Also a nobundler world is just wishful thinking, what he gets extremely wrong here is thinking bundlers are only here to transpile js but this is wrong, like the name says it does trough a plugin system many things outside javascript as well, it does things like moving files around, rewriting them do stuff with other file formats before compiling my javascript, he is not only out of touch he is wrong 1000%.

[@LucasAlexK]

I believe his point was about developing and trying to run an old project

[@uleih]

Remind me how one troll took down most of other packages in npm. And and constant crypto and malware in js.

[@jl789nz]

He's talking about how all of the stop gaps to get these things working well in the past, aren't 100% necessary any more, import-maps and updates to HTTP being a big reason for this. With these changes no-build/no bundle is 100% viable way to build a fully featured Web app. Just like most things in programming, there are trade offs to both build and no-build, you just have to weigh up what you think works best for you.

[@ivan.jeremic]

@@LucasAlexKWorks like a charm if you know what you are doing.

[@matylkafunialska5884]

Ruby on Rails sucks

[@MarcoDamaceno]

It sucked for you. Ruby on Rails has been paying my bills and keeping me away from stupid implementations made by people in other programming languages.

[@jl789nz]

hmmm thought provoking.

[@supermarinespitfire1]

cos you cannot code

[@abdusuf523]

Why it sucks ? The reason ?

[@shannonmariehauck]

Why / how does it suck?