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Every programming language has some fundamental idea(s) that drives its design and evolution.
For Haskell that’s functional purity and state-of-the-art static typing, for Erlang that’s distributed programming and fault tolerance, for Clojure that’s simplicity and stability.

What all these examples have in common is that they are relatively easy to understand and map to design decisions in the languages. This, in turn, makes it possible to determine down the road whether a language sticks to its core values or deviates from them.

Ruby, however, is very different. It’s world famous for its unique creed - “optimizing for programming happiness”. But what does this really mean? How does one optimize for happiness?
Unfortunately I’ve never heard Matz speak about this, so in this talk I’ll offer you my perspective instead. I'll also discuss some of the recent changes to Ruby and whether they adhere to its creed or not. Controversy & fun ahead!

rubyday 2023 happened in Verona on 16th June 2023

Info and details of this edition:
2023.rubyday.it/

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In the talk titled "Ruby's Creed," speaker Bozhidar Batsov explores the fundamental philosophy behind the Ruby programming language, particularly its focus on 'programming happiness.' Batsov compares Ruby's unique principles with those of other programming languages, identifying key differences and commonalities. Throughout the session, Batsov outlines several essential themes and concepts:

- **Philosophy of Ruby:** Ruby is described as a language that prioritizes productivity and joy in programming, suggesting that a language should facilitate thinking and creativity.  
- **Creed versus Motto:** Batsov highlights the distinction between a language’s creed (system of beliefs) and its motto (short phrase encapsulating ideals), illustrating how Ruby’s focus is on subjective happiness with programming rather than strict rules or methods.  
- **Cultural Behaviors:** Batsov discusses how a programming language’s culture is defined by the behaviors it rewards or punishes, as opposed to the ideals it claims to uphold.  
- **Examples of Other Languages:** He contrasts Ruby with languages like Clojure and Python, which adhere to stability and clarity respectively, showcasing how Ruby supports multiple ways to achieve functionality, inspired by Perl's philosophy.  
- **Subjective Happiness:** Happiness in Ruby programming is considered subjective; different features appeal to different users, with examples of controversial features that may enhance happiness for some while frustrating others.  
- **Recent Changes and Community:** Batsov reviews various recent releases of Ruby, assessing their impacts, and emphasizes the importance of community feedback in shaping language updates, reinforcing that the Ruby community remains vibrant and resilient despite challenges.  
- **Inclusivity and Flexibility:** Ruby is promoted as a flexible language that accommodates different programming styles, from object-oriented to functional programming, allowing individual programmers to tailor their use of the language to their preferences.

Overall, the presentation encourages a celebration of Ruby's unique philosophy, which strives to foster happiness among its users while acknowledging the complexity of satisfying a diverse programmer community.

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