I Almost Quit Programming
I almost quit programming.
The Struggle
By that point, I had spent 7 years deep into languages like C, C++, and Java, with occasional dabbling in ASP, PHP, Pascal, Perl, and numerous others. None of them ever truly clicked. Programming felt mechanical, rigid, devoid of the joy I had hoped to feel when I started in high school and into college. The excitement of building something from nothing but an idea had faded into the rigidity of the frameworks being used. My job had become a chore, my passion had dimmed, and I was seriously contemplating a radical life change. I’d even applied to the Peace Corps, ready to step onto an entirely different path, uncertain but eager to explore new passions I hadn’t yet defined.
But life had different plans.
The Turning Point
My former manager unknowingly intervened at this crossroads, recommending a book: “Agile Web Development with Rails.” Intrigued yet skeptical, I gave it a shot.
The moment I cracked open that book, everything changed. Within days, I’d devoured it entirely, utterly captivated. Ruby was beautiful, expressive, eloquent, everything I had ever wanted programming to be. Rails complemented it perfectly, enabling me to bring ideas to life in minutes or hours, rather than the weeks or months I’d grown accustomed to. The spark reignited instantly.
The Transformation
For the next few months, I built dozens of applications. Each one was a revelation. Ideas that would have taken weeks in Java or C++ materialized in days. I was coding late into the night, not because I had to, but because I couldn’t stop. The joy of creation had returned, and I was making up for lost time.
Fueled by newfound excitement, I partnered with my former boss to found Intridea, a Ruby on Rails consultancy. Together, we assembled a team of world-class Ruby engineers and developed incredible apps for clients ranging from ambitious startups to Fortune 100 corporations. Ruby and Rails didn’t just rescue my programming career. They transformed it, setting me on a thrilling journey of creativity and entrepreneurship.
What Ruby on Rails Gave Me
What Ruby on Rails gave me was more than just a new language or framework. It restored my fundamental relationship with code. Where before I saw constraints and boilerplate, I now saw elegance and possibility. The language itself felt like poetry, each line expressing intent with clarity and grace. Rails removed the friction that had made programming feel like drudgery, replacing it with conventions that let me focus on what mattered: bringing ideas to life.
That transformation wasn’t just professional. It was deeply personal. The passion I’d lost, the excitement that had faded, the joy of creation that had dimmed, Ruby on Rails brought it all back. It reminded me why I’d fallen in love with programming in the first place: the ability to take an idea and make it real, to build something from nothing, to create.
Looking back, I realize that Ruby on Rails didn’t just save my career. It saved my passion for software itself. It showed me that programming didn’t have to be mechanical or rigid. It could be expressive, creative, and deeply satisfying. And for that, I’ll always be grateful.
Coming Full Circle
Today, I find myself experiencing that same exhilaration once again, this time with AI. The profound sense of wonder I felt with Ruby now resurfaces as I explore the jaw-dropping, eye-opening possibilities of artificial intelligence. AI has reignited that spirit-lifting excitement, empowering me to accomplish things I never imagined possible.
Just as Ruby on Rails once reshaped my career, AI is now redefining the boundaries of what I can create. It feels like coming full circle, rediscovering joy in the endless potential of technology.