# "Optimize for programmer happiness"

> Ruby's founding value: bend the language toward joy, not the machine.

This is Ruby's design philosophy in five words. [Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto](https://chunkybacon.dev/people/matz.md) built Ruby to make the *person writing the code* comfortable and productive, even when that costs the computer some efficiency. It is why Ruby often reads almost like English and why there is usually a pleasant way to do a thing. When Rubyists explain why they love the language, this is almost always underneath the answer.

*Related:* [Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto](https://chunkybacon.dev/people/matz.md) · [MINASWAN](https://chunkybacon.dev/glossary/minaswan.md)

## Sources
- The Philosophy of Ruby (Artima, 2003): https://www.artima.com/articles/the-philosophy-of-ruby

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Source: https://chunkybacon.dev/glossary/optimize-for-programmer-happiness/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)