Short-Form Summary:

In this episode of Dead Code, host Jared chats with Noel Rappin, Staff Engineer at Chime and co-author of the updated Programming Ruby (“The Pickaxe Book”), about revitalizing Ruby’s most iconic reference. Rappin explains that despite claims Ruby is “dead,” it’s still widely used by startups and major companies like GitHub and Shopify. He took on the update to bridge the gap between Ruby 2.0 and 3.3, modernizing the book to reflect new features like pattern matching and changes in the ecosystem, while keeping it relevant for today’s developers, many of whom are coming from JavaScript, Python, or Java. They discuss the balance between Ruby’s flexible syntax and emerging norms via tools like RuboCop, the cautious use of metaprogramming, and how Ruby’s expressive power still stands out. Rappin hints at a future Ruby 4 update and encourages developers to embrace Ruby’s strengths, especially for teams valuing agility and clarity.

Links:

Noel Rappin

Dave Thomas

Programming Ruby (The Pickaxe Book)

why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby

Bundler

RuboCop

StandardRB

Ractors

Pattern Matching in Ruby

Sorbet

RBS

Steep 

Dry-types

Sinatra

RSpec

Concurrent Ruby

Fibers

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Episode Transcript

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