I’ve been watching Ruby on Rails for a while now. It seems to be gaining some momentum.
Ruby seems like a nice language, and the Rails framework appears to add some WebObjects-like functionality. It looks like it’s got some stuff that approaches Direct-to-web. It still doesn’t look quite as elegant as WebObjects, but it is definitely interesting, and tries to be pretty cleanly MVC, which is nice. It’s also just sitting there at /usr/bin/ruby begging to be dusted off and called into action…
Basecamp was the first “real” app that used Ruby on Rails (and it’s a beauty app, to be sure). I’m sure there will be some others going live Real Soon Now.
I’d be interested in developing an app using it, except I’d have to throw away all of the java libraries I’m using (including APOLLO and PXFoundation). When/if I get a chance, I’ll work up a simple app to act as an alternate front end to the Asset Management Database, to see how well it works.
I’ve also been rolling around the idea of building more stuff in PHP, but haven’t found a decent framework to use, and I really dread having to roll everything from scratch. To be fair, I haven’t really looked very hard, either…
Update: MacOSX 10.3 ships with Ruby v. 1.6.8. The latest version is 1.8.1 (downloadable here).
Update: ImageMagick is available in Ruby via RMagick - there’s one dependency I don’t have to worry about…
Update: A Slashdot article comparing Ruby on Rails to Java Spring/Hybernate - sounds promising for RoR
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March 31st, 2005 at 4:04 pm
I would enthusiasticly recommened you create a simple web app in Ruby on Rails. You’ll find many things that both intrigue and delight. Of course I’m a little biased
For a good read check out:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8217
Also, read up on Odeo’s adventures in Rails:
http://www.anarchogeek.com/archives/000514.html?rss
Tim
March 31st, 2005 at 4:26 pm
Tim, thanks for the links. The more I read about Ruby (and Rails), the more I want to try it out…
April 4th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
[...] really think about the problem on a level that is much closer to the user experience. Some thoughts on how Ruby is Similiar to Webobjects A look at some of the frameworks availab [...]
April 10th, 2005 at 2:58 pm
D’Arcy, you have to check out why (the lucky stiff’s) poignant guide to ruby: http://poignantguide.net/ruby/. Fun to read, and it has cartoon foxes in it!
The thing I’m really excited about with RoR is that it natively supports ajax (yes, there’s that other buzz word of the moment).
The other cool thing is that because Ruby is so high level, it’s making a lot of non-developers into devs. So now people who previously wouldn’t touch code but who have really awesome ideas can now implement to their hearts’ content. There’s some debate about how Ruby’s not a great language to start with and how it’s too high level (hivelogic had a good post about it: http://hivelogic.com/archives/2005/02/27/regarding-ruby-and-ruby-on-rails/), and there’s been lots of er arguing/flaming re: java vs. ruby… but Ruby’s so hot right now, it’s like nothing can hold it back.