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What happens to Ruby when Rails dies?

Ruby rode the Rails rocketship to worldwide renown. While a handful of developers were writing Ruby code before Rails came along, many (if not most) of us owe Rails a debt of gratitude for taking Ruby mainstream, thus allowing us to make a living writing code in a language we love.

However, the application design preferences expressed by Rails are falling out of favor. Our apps have more complex domain logic that becomes burdensome to manage by following "The Rails Way."

Is that it, then? Does transitioning from Rails mean leaving Ruby behind?

WHY?

If we're being honest, I think it's fair to say that all of us have thought about this at one point in the past year or two, or maybe before. Whether while we're cursing the mess we got ourselves into with ActiveRecord callback spaghetti or complicated modeling brought on by the predisposition to make everything in app/models a subclass of ActveRecord::Base, we think "this just isn't fun anymore. What happened to the programmer happiness I felt when things were simpler?"

But I strongly believe that even in a world where it's said that every programming language needs a "concurrency story" and functional programming is on the rise, there's room for Ruby. It's certainly not a language I want to stop writing any time soon, even if only as part of a larger whole.

There's no easy answer to the question posed at the start of the talk description, so don't watch this talk expecting to hear one. Instead, expect to be prompted to think critically about the way you view yourself as a programmer, and what that means for your life and career.

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In the talk titled 'Ruby after Rails', Ernie Miller explores the relationship between Ruby and Rails, and the potential implications for Ruby should Rails decline. Miller acknowledges that while Ruby gained prominence largely due to Rails, recent trends show that the design paradigms established by Rails are no longer aligning with modern application needs, particularly in managing complex domain logic.

Key points discussed include:

- **Rails' Changing Role**: Miller highlights that Rails is now often used to support back-end APIs for various applications rather than for traditional server-side rendering, signifying a shift in how Rails is employed.
- **Reflecting on Programmer Identity**: He encourages attendees to reflect on their identities as programmers and consider their attachment to technologies, revealing how he personally transitioned from identifying as a Rails coder to a Rubyist, and eventually to simply a programmer. 
- **Love for Ruby**: He details his passion for Ruby, noting its flexibility and developer-friendly syntax compared to languages like Java and Perl, and how it promotes readability.
- **Concurrency Concerns**: Miller discusses the notable gaps in Ruby's concurrency capabilities, emphasizing the need for improvements in this area to keep up with industry standards. He mentions specific features that would enhance Ruby's performance in multi-threaded environments. 
- **The Human Element**: At the core of his message is the belief that programming is fundamentally about creation and connection within a community. He reflects on how the Ruby community embodies happiness and creativity, and how this community aspect is vital for the language’s future.
- **Long-term Outlook for Ruby**: Miller concludes that despite concerns about Rails possibly diminishing, Ruby itself is unlikely to die out, given its historical persistence and lasting influence on new programming languages. He expresses optimism about Ruby’s role and legacy in the programming landscape amidst the emergence of other technologies.

Through humor and storytelling, Miller not only highlights the current state of Ruby and Rails but also invites programmers to redefine their relationship with technology and embrace the creative process inherent in programming. The essence of the talk is about the lasting power of community over tools and the importance of finding joy in the craft of programming.

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