Story: David Heinemeier Hansson, Software Contrarian

Story: David Heinemeier Hansson, Software Contrarian

Author: Adam Gordon Bell - Software Developer February 1, 2020 Duration: 1:02:09

David Heinemeier Hansson talks to Adam about being avoiding a software monoculture. He explains why we should find a programming language that speaks to us, why ergonomics matter and why single page apps and microservices are not for him.

"That is the pleasure and privilege of working with the web. No one knows what you built it. It, you could build an in basic, you can build it a Ocaml, you can build in the Haskell, you can build it in whatever Ruby. No one is going to be none the wiser you get to choose"

You want to write for the web. I mean, literally every programming language that's ever been invented and known to humankind is serving a webpage somewhere."

"There's just something heartwarming in that, that this idea of the monoculture that like this is all just a battle to the death and there's going to be one framework and there's going to be one programming language that lifts is left standing. Programmers are really drawn into that right into that horse race."

So much of their technology choices seem to be predicated on like, is this popular? Is this going to be popular next year? Do you know what I mean?"

"The crimes against programming humanities that have been done in the service of single page applications are far worse than the ones that have been done in the service of microservices.

But then of course, as it is, lots of people combine the two. So it's a fleet of microservices serving a single page application, and that's just where it bam, my head explodes with like, yeah, I would rather retire and fucking, I don't know, make weaved baskets than deal with that shit."

"I'm not saying that email is sort of in its base form is wonderful, but you know what is wonderful asynchronous. Write-ups of cohesive, full thoughts, people using actual goddamn paragraphs to describe ideas and proposals, and they put those paragraphs together into form entire, cohesive thoughts. And then letting someone take that in, read those several paragraphs, sit back for more than five minutes. Ponder that. And then respond."

Links:

Podcast Page


In CoRecursive: Coding Stories, host Adam Gordon Bell sits down with software developers to explore the human narratives woven into the technology we build. This isn't a technical interview focused on syntax or best practices, but a deeper dive into the pivotal moments, creative struggles, and personal insights that shape how code comes to life. Each conversation reveals the context behind decisions, the stories of failure and breakthrough, and the often-overlooked human elements that define our craft. As a software developer himself, Adam guides these discussions with genuine curiosity, pulling out anecdotes and reflections you won't hear anywhere else. The podcast lives in the intersection of News, Education, and How-To, but through the lens of lived experience. You'll hear about the origins of influential projects, the rationale behind unconventional solutions, and the personal journeys that lead developers to their philosophies. Listening feels like pulling up a chair with thoughtful peers, offering a richer understanding of the profession that goes far beyond the screen. This is where the abstract becomes concrete, through the stories and people behind the code.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

CoRecursive: Coding Stories
Podcast Episodes
Story: Jeffrey Snover and the Making of PowerShell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:19
What if you had to fight against your company's culture to bring a revolutionary tool to life? Meet Jeffrey Snover, the Microsoft architect behind PowerShell, a command tool that transformed Windows system administration…
Story: From Burnout to Breakthrough [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:26
Can you imagine risking your career to making coding easier to learn? Meet Felienne Hermans, a professor who did just that by stepping beyond academia to redefine coding education. Disillusioned by her research's limited…
Story: Coding Machines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:12
What if the tools you trust were actually betraying you? Join us for a riveting story where a team of software developers discovers that their compiler is compromised. What starts as suspicion of a simple bug quickly esc…
Story - Code as a Lifeline: Brain Injury Sparks Python Mastery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:12
What if your dreams were suddenly ripped away? What if your talents vanished, your passions erased? That's what happened to Jason McDonald when a traumatic brain injury at 16 ravaged his planned destiny of becoming a doc…
Story: Platform Takes The Pain [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:36
How did Spotify scale from 10 engineers to 100s to 1000s ...without slowing down? Without becoming corporate? Facing an IPO deadline, Pia Nilsson worked with 300 teams to transform how Spotify built software. She spearhe…