DEV Community

Discussion on: Please stop using Ruby

Collapse
 
sam_ferree profile image
Sam Ferree

You don't think there's anything holier-than-thou about idea that Ruby is one of the happiest languages to code in? Is the hardly subtle implication that engineers who care about performance can't possibly care about readability really going in on this respectfully?

What are the metrics for programmer happiness? How did you collect your data? What's your sample size? How can you even begin to honestly substantiate that claim beyond "I like it and everyone who insists on using it despite it's demonstrable problems likes it."

Everyone who insists on writing C# likes it, and people who insist on writing Elm are convinced that functional programming is obviously the most pleasant. Some people still swear by Ada.

Ruby is one language of many that allows you to write readable code.

And while there are languages that make it hard to write readable code; there are zero languages that make it hard to write unreadable code. Ruby doesn't even make writing unreadable code the least bit difficult.

I once was stuck on a rails error for 2 hours because I typed validate instead of validates. Any compiled language's editor would have caught that as soon as I typed it. Ruby was able to spin up the whole app and run indefinitely without ever feeling the need to say "BTW, I don't know what that method is."

Is "Please Stop using Ruby" a click-bait headline? For sure.
Are some of his criticisms of the language valid? Absolutely.
So yeah, this should have definitely been titled something like "Considerations to take into account before starting your next web project as Ruby on Rails"

Collapse
 
mhenrixon profile image
Mikael Henriksson

validate is also a claim method in rails. Your example does not prove your point at all. It just shows you don't know rails well enough. Sorry, couldn't let someone be wrong on the internet. 😂

Thread Thread
 
sam_ferree profile image
Sam Ferree

"I don't know rails well enough" exactly proves my point when the opposing point is "rails is a productive framework and makes developers happy!"

Collapse
 
thecodetrane profile image
Michael Cain

I never said "Ruby is one of the happiest languages to code in". I said it's primary focus is "developer happiness', which is direct from Matz.

I think the fact that RoR is the de facto on-ramp for most devs coming out of boot camps says a lot for its accessibility. Is Ruby the happiest language? Highly unlikely! People are made happy for all sorts of reasons.

My whole point was addressing the obviously craven title and the nasty habit people have for shitting on other peoples' tools. Write your next app in mindf*ck for all I care. If that's what makes you happy and it does the job, great! The idea, however, well all need these super-concurrent, ultra-fast, functionally-programmed, EVERYTHING-less apps is silly. Very little of what most of us do is a) that serious and b) even going to be around in 5 years.

Thread Thread
 
sam_ferree profile image
Sam Ferree

You’re absolutely right that shitting on people’s tools is bad.

I don’t know that i’m aware of sufficient evidence to agree that “what most of us do is [not serious enough for the performance concerns to matter].” And the claim that what most of us are doing isn’t going to be around in 5 years disagrees with my experience. Anecdotal I know, but a company a worked for until recently still maintains and adds new features to and ASP classic application.

Thread Thread
 
thecodetrane profile image
Michael Cain

I certainly agree that languages/frameworks persist. I work on a team as the only RoR guy with a bunch of Java developers. We have services in C# all over the place. All the more reason to cease and desist with the "mine is bigger than yours" malarkey.