DHH stops writing code by hand after 25 years
David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails and co-founder of Basecamp, announced he has not written code manually since March 2026. In a keynote at Rails World 2026, he called the shift away from hand-coding a turning point, arguing it no longer makes economic sense for most developers or companies.
Key points
- DHH hasn’t written code manually since March 2026, marking a full shift from hand-coding
- He argues AI agents make English a more practical programming language than Ruby
- Predicts the trend will apply to nearly every domain by the end of 2026
DHH, who previously opposed AI coding tools, now says AI agents have made English a more practical programming language than Ruby. He predicts the trend will extend to nearly every domain by year-end. He also warned that traditional software architecture may become obsolete as AI agents handle code changes, calling the moment ‘the biggest thing that has happened in the history of computing.’
Ruby on Rails creator DHH says he's done writing code by hand
The Decoder · 25 September 2026
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