Reading Rails 1.0 Source Code

https://rubyonrails.org/world/2025/day-2/masafumi-okura

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1. Reading Rails 1.0 Source Code Rails World 2025 OKURA Masafumi, 2025-09-05
2. https://www. fl ickr.com/photos/143951935@N07/28350408591 CC BY-SA 2.0
3. https://www. fl ickr.com/photos/131257392@N07/16501917041/ CC BY-SA 2.0
4. Dejima As westerners, only Dutch people used to live here for trading through Edo Period (1603 ~ 1867). During Edo Period, Japanese people imported western thoughts and techniques from Netherlands.
5. history?
6. Yes!!!
7. Reading Rails 1.0 Source Code Rails World 2025 OKURA Masafumi, 2025-09-05
8. pretty_print(myself) • Name: OKURA Masafumi (call me “Masa”) • Work: Freelance web developer (job opportunities welcome!) • Activities: Kaigi on Rails (the founder, chief organizer), Ruby community host, OSS (Alba and other libraries), public speaking (Friendly.rb next week!) • Favorite method: `BasicObject#instance_eval`
13. Like historians,
14. When I started Rails,
15. It was already version 3!
17. Why me?
19. Akira Matsuda a.k.a “a_matsuda” or “amatsuda”, a Rails committer and a Ruby committer, the author of Kaminari gem
20. He said… It’s a good idea to read Rails 1.0 code to learn Rails, because it’s simple
22. Misaki Shioi “shioimm” or “coe401”, an author of Happy Eyeballs v2 for Ruby socket library, a Ruby committer
23. She said… OK, I’d like to read Rails 1.0! … But how with only 3-month experience of working as a dev?
24. Me doing some mentoring at that time Oh sure I can help!
25. Me doing some mentoring at that time … Sorry maybe not, this code is really complex. But it’s kind of fun anyway.
28. 20 years ago…
31. https://youtu.be/G7gZSLBaxhM?si=dNuI6CBv_-zn_1SW
33. v8.0.0
34. v1.0.0
35. 7x Ruby code!
36. v8.0.0
37. v1.0.0
38. 5 component from v1.0.0 • ActionMailer • ActionPack • ActiveRecord • ActiveSupport • Railties
39. Rails has been a web framework that… • Follows MVC pattern • M (ActiveRecord), VC (ActionPack) • extends Ruby itself with ActiveSupport • Supports email!
40. 5 component from v1.0.0 • ActionMailer • ActionPack • ActiveRecord • ActiveSupport • Railties
41. Demo!
43. SyntaxError
45. BUILD FAILED
47. Note about using old (really old) Ruby • Technically, it should be possible • https://hub.docker.com/layers/m4i0/ruby/1.8.7-slim/images/ sha256-08b6b71a5f485a10262e0424389078646f700a68e4843b ca5e470985d95e1da0 • https://evilmartians.com/opensource/fullstaq-ruby-docker • It’s just that I didn’t want to get into trouble
48. Let’s talk about…
50. blank?
52. Let’s talk about…
53. CoC
54. In fl ector
56. The vibe of ActiveSupport v 1.0 • They feel familiar to me (from modern Rails perspective) • blank?, in fl ector and core_ext (open class!) • Some surprises • present? is NOT present here!
57. 5 component from v1.0.0 • ActionMailer • ActionPack • ActiveRecord • ActiveSupport • Railties
58. Let’s talk about…
60. Scaffold
62. The vibe of sca ff olding at v1.0 • I must have been the “future” 20 years ago! • Functional tests are generated here in v1.0 • Although now we “Drop system tests” :)
63. 5 component from v1.0.0 • ActionMailer • ActionPack • ActiveRecord • ActiveSupport • Railties
64. where
65. Where is where?
66. Find fi nd!
67. Serious explanation • In Rails 1.0, `where` method doesn’t exist • ` fi nd` method was used to do everything, including ` fi rst`, `all`, `order` and `include` • For complex query, ` fi nd_by_` magic method was used • They are all de fi ned in “base.rb”
69. Association
71. Validation
73. The vibe of ActiveRecord v1.0 • Base API was quite different • Personally `where` seems so natural • ` fi nd_by_name_and_email` magic might be too magical • Association feels so similar • Validation is not “sexy” but it’s so readable • Friendly DSL, metaprogramming inside it
74. Conclusion
75. "What makes Rails Rails itself? What core parts of Rails still remain after 20 years?”
76. What core parts of Rails still remain after 20 years?
77. Things remaining from Rails 1.0 to Rails 8.0 • ActiveSupport core extensions • `blank?` is a most phenomenal example • In fl ector to encourage CoC • Generators including scaffolding • ActiveRecord association and validation
78. What makes Rails Rails itself?
80. Ruby on Rails
81. Why does Ruby make Rails Rails itself? • Those remaining parts were (and still are) possible with Ruby’s fl exibility and facility of metaprogramming • Open Class, method_missing, instance_variable_set, etc. • Ruby supports DSL-heavy interface of Rails • Hiding complexity behind DSL
83. Developer happiness at its core • From version 1.0, Rails has prioritized developer happiness • core_ext, CoC, scaffolding, migration, etc. • Although awesome new ideas have been implemented in 20 years, some of them have been available from v1.0, which is impressive • “Shoot yourself a head” power by DHH • Simplicity and conceptual compression
84. Rails bas been great for 20 years, in the future it will be even better!
85. Contact me! • Personal website: https://okuramasafumi.com • ruby.social: https://ruby.social/@okuramasafumi • X: https://x.com/okuramasafumi • GitHub: https://github.com/okuramasafumi • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masafumi-okura-82651128/