On this episode of Dead Code, host Jared talks with Sofia Besenski and Alistair Norman of Super Good about DHH's 2026 Rails World keynote. In it, DHH announced that HEY is leaving Rails for six native apps and a Rust backend. He has called Rust hideous before, but he now argues that the language's looks don't matter because agents write the code and he doesn't read it. The panel doubts that six apps beat one good web app. Sofia warns that teams leaning on agents build up "cognitive debt" and lose track of how their systems work. Alistair says most people don't want more apps on their phones. All three dismiss DHH's lines-of-code numbers as meaningless. Jared reads José Valim's reply, which asks why DHH didn't use these tools to improve Rails itself, and the hosts point to other Rails World talks on Active Search, Herb, and Ractor safety that did move the framework forward.
Links:
Rails World 2026 Opening Keynote - DHH
Rails World 2026 agenda and talks
Active Search talk by Donal McBreen
Aaron Patterson's closing keynote
On Rails: Aaron Patterson on Ractors, JIT compilers, and rewriting how gems install
Steven Shaw and Gideon Nave on cognitive surrender (Wharton)
Martin Fowler's Design Stamina Hypothesis
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Jared’s Links: