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Unlike other years, I feel pretty nervous. I don't know why, but I probably feel this way because this is a great venue. This is the city I have seen over and over again in Hollywood movies.
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When I speak in English, I feel like I’m 30% less intelligent. But that’s okay, because you don’t speak Japanese, right? In 1993, I started developing Ruby. I was 27 years old, and I made it just for fun.
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I had no ambition to take over the world or make any money out of it. I just created a programming language for fun. When I started programming at the age of 15, I got interested in programming languages.
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Initially, the only programming language I knew was BASIC, which is pretty much basic. In the early 80s, BASIC was a limited programming language.
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I didn't know any other programming languages, which frustrated me due to the limitations of BASIC. Then, I found a book that discussed another programming language called Pascal. However, I didn’t have a computer to execute the Pascal compiler back then.
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Those PCs came with BASIC interpreters, so I had to buy an operating system and a compiler to execute Pascal or C compilers, but those compilers cost around $2000, which was too expensive for a high school student.
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So, I just read the book and learned many things, such as structured programming, user-defined data structures, and functions in Pascal. These ideas were eye-opening for me.
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Back then, I was very much interested in programming languages and how the human mind can be expressed through them. Programming languages serve as a means of expressing our ideas.
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After graduating from high school, I attended university and majored in computer science. University is abundant with books and papers about programming languages, so I studied several programming languages and discovered that each language was designed with specific intentions.
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Unlike natural languages, which have no single inventor, every programming language has its own inventor or designer. For example, Pascal was designed as an educational programming language, while C was meant to replace assembly for implementing operating systems like UNIX.
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This intentional design of programming languages sparked my teenage dream to create my own programming language. However, back in the 80s, there was no internet or way to easily access information about compiler implementation.
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I frequented a local bookstore and took a textbook on compilers, but it was too difficult for a high school student, so I managed my way into university and learned a lot about computer science. After graduating, I worked as a professional programmer for several years.
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In 1993, I felt I had enough skill to implement my programming language. However, I didn't publish it immediately, as I wanted to refine it first.
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I worked on it, striving to make it more realistic and usable. Eventually, I decided to put it on the internet. Shortly after that, I formed a mailing list to communicate with the community, as back then we primarily relied on email.
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Interestingly, while the World Wide Web was invented in 1990, it wasn't available to the general public at that time. I formed this mailing list, and around 200 people joined, establishing a community.
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This community played a crucial role as many individuals asked questions, reported bugs, and provided suggestions. Back then, we referred to it as free software, as the term 'open source' didn’t come out until 1997.
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In the year 2000, I received an email from a publisher interested in publishing a book about my programming language. I agreed, although it was challenging for me to translate my Japanese text into English.
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So, I was open to anyone who could help with writing the English version. The first book, titled 'Programming Ruby', was published in the year 2000.
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The initial print run of this book resulted in 20,000 copies sold, which was quite a remarkable number considering Ruby was relatively unknown at the time.
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The first Ruby Conference, known as RubyConf, was held in Tampa, Florida, and it had 34 attendees, which was a significant increase compared to the very early days.
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Many years later, the number of attendees at Ruby events continued to grow significantly, with conferences seeing thousands of participants from different parts of the world.
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At one point, there were estimates that the number of Ruby users surpassed over a million, and Ruby became widely used in various applications, especially in web development.
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Big companies like Twitter, Netflix, and Airbnb use Ruby. The community saw massive contributions from people adopting Ruby for various fields, including embedded programming, robotics, and game development.
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One of the key strengths of open-source software lies in its community, which can be thought of as a group of people who are passionate about the language and its ecosystem.
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But this community is quite different because there’s no clear structure; there are no mandatory registrations or leaders. Open-source communities are more virtual, making them sometimes less tangible than traditional communities.
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Yet, the power of these communities lies in collaboration, where many individuals come together to contribute to projects, share knowledge, and improve the software.
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I believe this community aspect is what drives innovation. It's similar to a typhoon; you can’t touch nor measure it directly, but you can see the collective effect showcasing immense power.
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While I often get recognized as a leader of the Ruby community, in reality, I see myself as just one person among many contributors who make it thrive.
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Over the years, we’ve received numerous bug reports and feature requests from the community, which have shaped Ruby into what it is today.
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Contributions like Unicode support and generational garbage collection originated from the community, and many discussions about future enhancements still stem from the users themselves.
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This collaborative spirit extends to improving documentation and writing tutorials, which are crucial for onboarding new users to Ruby.
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The curiosity within the community keeps it active and growing. People are driven not just by the desire to solve puzzles or gain recognition, but also by the joy of communication and collaboration.
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Every user brings their unique perspective, forming an eclectic yet cohesive community. This diversity is what helps Ruby grow, and it's essential for the longevity of the language.
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Ruby once started as a one-person project, but it has grown exponentially with active contributions and a robust body of users and advocates.
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I believe Ruby has one of the best open-source communities around, marked by its friendliness and supportive nature.
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The Ruby language is just a tool I created. The community is what has truly brought it to life and given it its value.
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We must continue to provide benefits and opportunities to ensure the community thrives. Our mission is to cultivate an engaging environment to retain community members.
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If members feel stagnant, they may venture into other programming languages that pique their interest. Thus, we should continue to innovate and avoid complacency.
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Just as a shark must keep swimming to survive in the ocean, the Ruby community must keep moving forward. We cannot let hostile claims about Ruby's decline discourage us.
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Every technology has its peaks and troughs; the key is recognizing the inherent value and moving beyond temporary expectations. Ruby has faced challenges, but it is far from dead.
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While we may experience slow periods, this is a chance to reassess and reinvent Ruby’s offerings. The vibrant programming environment is part of a larger narrative of evolution and change.
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Even major platforms that once relied heavily on Ruby have a story of growth. Ruby was pivotal in shaping many successful projects, such as Twitter; overcoming initial skepticism only strengthened this narrative.
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In light of that history, along with improvements in speed and scalability, Ruby is now more powerful than ever. We are pushing to make Ruby richer in features, tools, and community engagement.
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I encourage everyone to remain devoted to Ruby and to contribute to its growth vigorously. Please lend a hand in whatever capacity, and be part of our shared journey into the future.
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I look forward to Ruby 3, which is planned for release in 2020, and I am eager to see components like pattern matching and improvements in concurrency.
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However, we also must prepare ourselves for ongoing innovation, as the landscape of programming languages continues to emerge. Projects for Ruby after my involvement will involve collaboration from various designers.
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No matter what happens, I’m thrilled about Ruby’s journey and its potential. Everyone in this room plays a crucial role in that future.
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So let's collaborate, innovate, and move forward together.
