Happy 18th Birthday, Ruby!

Yes, I'm sad enough to have had this in my calendar for some time but.. it's Ruby's 18th "birthday" today! Happy Birthday Ruby! While this means it can drink, vote, and otherwise join its slightly older friends Perl (24) and Python (21) in the nightclubs of Europe, I was surprised to learn that coming of age in Japan is at 20 years old.

From Wikipedia's Ruby entry:

The name "Ruby" was decided on during an online chat session between Matsumoto and Keiju Ishitsuka on February 24, 1993, before any code had been written for the language. Initially two names were proposed: "Coral" and "Ruby", with the latter being chosen by Matsumoto in a later email to Ishitsuka. Matsumoto has later stated that a factor in choosing the name "Ruby" was because it was the birthstone of one of his colleagues.

Wikipedia

If you're interested in learning more, this interview with Matz back in 2001 will give you more history and background to the creation of Ruby.

While Matz has said that February 24, 1993 is Ruby's "birthday" (back when I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston was topping the charts), the first public release wasn't until December 21, 1995 when Ruby 0.95 was released and the first mailing list established. Ruby 1.0 followed a year later on December 25, 1996, establishing the tradition of Christmas Day Ruby releases.

Here's to 18 more years of Ruby, I hope!

Comments

Matthew Rudy Jacobs · February 24, 2011 at 5:26 am
The same time as "I will always love you"?
Seems appropriate that they're planning a remake of that
http://www.slashfilm.com/remake-bodyguard-works
Perhaps we should remake Ruby with a "young female singer with global appeal" as the new Matz.
Domenico Delle Side · February 24, 2011 at 8:30 am
It is sad for all italian Ruby programmers that whenever we search something related to the programming language on the Internet the results are dirtied by many links related to our prime minister's sordid sex scandals!
Kerry Buckley · February 24, 2011 at 9:24 am
The name "Ruby" was decided on during an online chat session between Matsumoto and Keiju Ishitsuka on February 24, 1993, before any code had been written for the language.
18 years since conception then, surely, rather than birth?
Peter Cooper · February 24, 2011 at 9:26 am
Nowt wrong with a bit of Eastenders every now and then! That said, I'd rather watch Hollyoaks.. *g*
Antonio · February 24, 2011 at 9:27 am
Yeah i share my birthday with Ruby, I'll never forget it now.
Pepe · February 24, 2011 at 9:40 am
Heh. You made me think about Berlusconi.
Peter Cooper · February 24, 2011 at 9:43 am
@Kerry: Haha, it would seem that way, but the word "birthday" was used by Matz also so.. :-)
skrat · February 24, 2011 at 10:35 am
And still... so far from adulthood.
Pablo · February 24, 2011 at 1:18 pm
I had never thought of ruby as a "she"... I aways imagined it as a badass samurai.
Makes sense though
Fellipe Soares · February 24, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Representing developers Ruby of Brazil, what a great day! Come the adult!
Just a Guy · February 25, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Ruby is 18 years old? How can it be modern? I thought old languages sucked and Ruby was the new hotness?
Did a framework make it useable for the web? i'm so confused! I have to reconsidere everything about PHP, ASP, Java, ColdFusion, Python and Perl.
(unknown) ·
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Andrew Grimm · February 28, 2011 at 5:49 am
"it's happened before *sigh*"
How long ago was this?