RailsConf 09: Robert Martin, "What Killed Smalltalk Could K

Why HN readers recommended it

HN cites it in discussions of language evangelism, community dynamics and zealotry, as an accessible account of how a good language can die for non-technical reasons.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

O'Reilly

Topic

programming language communities

Format

talk

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

5

HN mentions in dataset

14

Recommendation years in dataset

2012–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Thx for the responses. I just watched "What Killed Smalltalk Could Kill Ruby, Too" [VIDEO] pretty interesting

• For some context on Martin's comments his talk on how arrogance effected Smalltalk is probably relevant: [VIDEO] and probably worth watching if you enjoy Uncle Bob's soulful stylings and are interested in his thoughts about programming language communities.

• After watching a few Alan Kay talks where he pines for Smalltalk, I happened to watch this Robert Martin talk "What killed Smalltalk could kill Ruby". [VIDEO] The tldw reasons he gives for why Smalltalk died: - too easy to make a mess where adding …