Articles by David Heinemeier Hansson

How Has Open Source Helped or Hindered?

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:45:00 EST

Open source provides an incredible amount of technical leverage for small companies. No matter who productive your rock-star programmers are and no matter how much judo you apply to your problems, solid infrastructure takes a long time and benefits immensely from broad involvement. It really does take a village to raise great infrastructure. The Ruby on Rails framework of today is a lot more productive than the one I was using before it was open sourced. I use features every day created by others, enjoy polish done by others, evade bugs caught by others. All work I would otherwise have to do myself. So I simply get more done for less effort than it would otherwise have taken. The same holds true for the other open source projects that have been cultivated in 37signals, like Prototype and Capistrano.

iPhone Reviews: The First Batch

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:45:00 EDT

All reviews are positive on balance. The negatives mainly coalesce around AT&T and EDGE as well as getting used to the keyboard. The keyboard gets better, EDGE does not. The most surprising thing to me was how they all said the iPhone seems virtually scratch-proof. They've all tossed in their pockets, knocked it with change and keys, and keep it unprotected during the duration of their tests. And virtually no marks. That's impressive. Some funky new materials or treatments perhaps?

Secrets to Amazon's Success

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:45:00 EDT

Teams are small. They are assigned authority and empowered to solve a problem as a service in anyway they see fit. Work from the customer backward. Focus on value you want to deliver for the customer. Force developers to focus on value delivered to the customer instead of building technology first and then figuring how to use it. Start with a press release of what features the user will see and work backwards to check that you are building something valuable.

Designing For the "iPhone" Is a Refreshing Experience

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:45:00 EDT

We're working on an iPhone-optimized version of Ta-da List. As I was working on some UI ideas, Ryan and I were talking about some of really cool things about designing for the iPhone. I remarked that I loved the constraints. For example, we know the exact screen size/resolution, we know the exact typeface, we know how the face renders on the screen, we know the colors, we know the browser, etc. Then Ryan nailed it: Designing for the iPhone is like a hybrid of print and web design.

What If I Actually Like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript?

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:45:00 EDT

I actually find the development experience between a modern web-application framework, Firebug, and current JavaScript libraries more than just bearable, I find it downright pleasant. Even more so because it's born out of the pragmatism of not needing to be perfect. It has evolved over a decade of experimentation. On the user experience side of things, we're not even close to tapping out the potential of HTML. The majority of web sites and applications still suck. And if most developers and designers can't make a clean run with the training wheels and constricted playground of HTML, then we probably are in no rush to start playing with a Ducatti on the Autobahn.

Reduce the Risk ...Hire Programmers From Open Source

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 17:30:00 EST

In the wake of open source, traditional hiring practices seem like an unnecessarily risky way to hire new employees, especially for small teams where each hire can make it or break it. Why bet the composition of your collective on abstract indicators, hearsay, and a biased bio?

Ruby on Rails Milestone: Rails 1.0 Released

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 23:30:00 EST

15 months after the first public release, Rails has arrived at the big 1.0. What a journey! We've gone through thousands of revisions, tickets, and patches from hundreds of contributors to get here. I'm incredibly proud at the core committer team, the community, and the ecosystem we've raised around this framework.

Ruby on Rails Creator Says: "Reduce the Risk, Hire Programmers From Open Source"

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 02:30:00 EST

David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of the programming world's latest star platform, writes: 'In the wake of open source, traditional hiring practices seem like an unnecessarily risky way to hire new employees. Especially for small teams where each hire can make it or break it. Why bet the composition of your collective on abstract indicators, hearsay, and a biased bio?'