Brad Madigan asks:
Was Ruby on Rails a planned attack while building Basecamp, or did you realize, “Wow, we have a real MVC framework here” after the fact? Other than the obvious technical aspects, how has Rails helped 37Signals as far as business development is concerned?
In the beginning, there was no Rails, there was only Basecamp. After working on Basecamp for a while, though, I eyed the option of giving all the generic pieces a life of their own. But even then, I continued to work on Basecamp first. Which meant that all the functionality of Rails came as extractions of a real application, not of a “what somebody might need some day” fantasy, so prevalent in framework design.
This extraction-driven nature of Rails attracted a culture of practical programmers with a zeal for delivery, which proved to be perfect hiring crop for 37signals. From the core group of people around the framework, we were lucky enough to hire such amazing talent as Jamis Buck, Sam Stephenson, and Jeremy Kemper for the company. That’s probably the biggest benefit that 37signals has derived from Rails.
But many other benefits are obvious. Including awareness, goodwill, and press. And of course the joy of working with a technology so uniquely aligned with our thoughts on software development.
Kevin
on 18 Oct 07Isn’t Jeremy Kemper the guy who was suppose to migrate CD Baby over to Rails and after 2 years, the project was abandon and PHP was used?
http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2007/09/7_reasons_i_switched_back_to_p_1.html
sandofsky
on 18 Oct 07Kevin, He’s also related to Hitler.
Keith
on 18 Oct 07@Kevin
Jeremy didn’t so much abandon the project as he got hired away from it. ;) “For the greater good…”
Off Topic: I guess I’m just stumped at what a rails guru took 2 years to do that didn’t leave CD Baby in a position to easily finish off the application.
On Topic: “And of course the joy of working with a technology so uniquely aligned with our thoughts on software development.” Did the software become self-aware and align itself with your business practice or did you program it that way because it already was your business practice?
rick
on 18 Oct 07It’s self aware and past the ‘terrible twos’ stage. Can’t wait for the rebellious teenage years.
coward
on 18 Oct 07a person named rick submitted this post. why isn’t he in…
Who are 37signals?
Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson, Ryan Singer and Sam Stephenson in Chicago, Matt Linderman in NYC, Mark Imbriaco in Chesapeake, Virginia, Jeremy Kemper in Portland, Oregon, and Mr. Jamis Buck in Caldwell, Idaho.
Juixe
on 18 Oct 07There is a lot to say for corporate goodwill. The goodwill Sun has received because of Java is probably a key factor why they haven’t gone the way of SGI. Java definetly allowed Sun to grow their bussiness beyond workstations. So, maybe to rephrased the original question, how has Rails, and most importantly its aboption rate, helped 37signals to grow beyond Basecamp?
DunMiff/sys
on 18 Oct 07While you were typing that, I searched every database in existence, and learned every fact about everything. And mastered the violin
Ryan
on 18 Oct 07Convergence, viral marketing, we’re going guerrilla. We’re taking it to the streets, while keeping an eye on the street — Wall Street. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. In other words, it is what it is. Making websites just became fun.
Jeremy Kemper
on 18 Oct 07Kevin, that’s me, though I assume you ask rhetorically. See Chad Fowler’s The Big Rewrite series for a more topical look at how and why ‘big bang’ rewrites fail. Ours did at CD Baby but Derek’s reasoning was lost in the hue & cry over the technical controversy he inadvertently ignited.
Keith, you flatter me, but I succeed and fail like any developer learning his craft. The revamped cdbaby.com was done in a few months at the very beginning, but it was essentially a rewrite of the way the business ran, from the domain model to the database schema to the technical implementation. Getting from there to the Big Switch was Xeno’s folly, and mine.
Within a few months we had switched gears to more pressing projects and let the rewrite lay fallow. Last fall we revived it and brought on a small team to help, treating the effort as renovation rather than demolition. Rather than trash the existing database, we used it as a point of integration to eliminate the Big Switch entirely. It worked well, but Derek clashed with our design and technical aesthetic so I read the writing on the wall and moved on.
I hope this clarifies rather than obfuscates, and at least upturns the empty bandwagon pulled in here.
This discussion is closed.