Rails is powerful, but it is a coding framework. Not exactly the most natural solution for web designers. There are interesting stirrings in the Ajax community around creating visual, even WYSIWYG tools for building web apps. Examples include WaveMaker, Aptana, Bunkai. WaveMaker is open source, runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, available at www.wavemaker.com/downloads
Your article is a good primer on the environment of Ruby on Rails, but I think you should point us in the direction of some more support resources. Many tutorials, and even the screencasts on rubyonrails.org, contain code that breaks or doesn’t work as of Rails 2.0. I would suggest pointing us towards a list of changes to watch out for, because it may stand in the way of many people, including myself.
I enjoy working with RoR, but I think there needs to be more emphasis on choosing to use it only when it’s right for the job. Dan did mention that he uses PHP on certain things, but I think it should be taken a little further than that.
Why? Because there is so much RoR buzz going around that I have clients demanding Rails sites, regardless of the feature set or scope. I’ve also seen some scalability issues with Rails that not many people are willing to address.
Now, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from using Rails. Just remember – you’re a craftsman. Choose the right tool for the job! If it happens to be Rails, then enjoy.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for stumbling onto rails 3 or so years ago I’ve no idea what I’d be doing now. It’s not just that the coding style was a welcome relief from the Microsoft last I’d lived in for 10+ years, but that the community around it was much more interesting. The entire “ruby lifestyle” has significantly reduced my stress levels and made coding fun again.
Stumbled across this article recently. I know I am late commenting! However, I just feel the distinction needs to be made between PHP4 and PHP5 when discussing PHP or even comparing it to other languages like Python, Ruby, Perl, etc. Given PHP’s complete overhaul of their object model with v5, PHP4 and PHP5 are basically two different languages meriting distinction. This also seems to be the case with every major version release of PHP.
I feel the real comparison would have been RoR vs Django. Although I admit I am far more partial to Django and Python than RoR and Ruby. :)
When it comes to PHP frameworks, out of the box, the standard is the Zend framework. Most of the other PHP frameworks are built on the PHP4 language and are flawed from the start as such. IMO, using v4, you are basically building a legacy application as you code! It’s unfortunate that PHP did not have a real, solid object model in v4.
However, when it comes down to it, building an MVC framework can be done in any language (the design pattern has been around for decades now) and really is quite simple. A good exercise for any intermediate programmer is to build out your own MVC framework in your language of choice. At the very least, it will give you a solid understanding of what is actually going on underneath the hood of all these other frameworks even if you do not fully complete it.
Been using Ruby and ROR for nearly four years and it has gone from strength to strength.
While there are a lot of ordinary articles which give an overview of Rails, this is a exceptionally article, and given that a lot has changed in last few years with Heroku, Rails 3, it might be a good idea to update this one.
As for Stephen point about PHP4 vs PHP5, while it is true to some extent, in practical terms a lot of developers still use PHP as they always used to in PHP4. While technically it has a object model, the adoption percentage is still low.
28 Reader Comments
Back to the Articlechris keene
Rails is powerful, but it is a coding framework. Not exactly the most natural solution for web designers. There are interesting stirrings in the Ajax community around creating visual, even WYSIWYG tools for building web apps. Examples include WaveMaker, Aptana, Bunkai. WaveMaker is open source, runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, available at www.wavemaker.com/downloads
Rosano Coutinho
Your article is a good primer on the environment of Ruby on Rails, but I think you should point us in the direction of some more support resources. Many tutorials, and even the screencasts on rubyonrails.org, contain code that breaks or doesn’t work as of Rails 2.0. I would suggest pointing us towards a list of changes to watch out for, because it may stand in the way of many people, including myself.
Ray Brown
I enjoy working with RoR, but I think there needs to be more emphasis on choosing to use it only when it’s right for the job. Dan did mention that he uses PHP on certain things, but I think it should be taken a little further than that.
Why? Because there is so much RoR buzz going around that I have clients demanding Rails sites, regardless of the feature set or scope. I’ve also seen some scalability issues with Rails that not many people are willing to address.
Now, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from using Rails. Just remember – you’re a craftsman. Choose the right tool for the job! If it happens to be Rails, then enjoy.
Don Ace
I just entered the programming world and was looking at the different methods and your article is a great help on the front.
Will definitely give ruby on rails a shot.
Glenn Gillen
Honestly, if it wasn’t for stumbling onto rails 3 or so years ago I’ve no idea what I’d be doing now. It’s not just that the coding style was a welcome relief from the Microsoft last I’d lived in for 10+ years, but that the community around it was much more interesting. The entire “ruby lifestyle” has significantly reduced my stress levels and made coding fun again.
Stephan R
Stumbled across this article recently. I know I am late commenting! However, I just feel the distinction needs to be made between PHP4 and PHP5 when discussing PHP or even comparing it to other languages like Python, Ruby, Perl, etc. Given PHP’s complete overhaul of their object model with v5, PHP4 and PHP5 are basically two different languages meriting distinction. This also seems to be the case with every major version release of PHP.
I feel the real comparison would have been RoR vs Django. Although I admit I am far more partial to Django and Python than RoR and Ruby. :)
When it comes to PHP frameworks, out of the box, the standard is the Zend framework. Most of the other PHP frameworks are built on the PHP4 language and are flawed from the start as such. IMO, using v4, you are basically building a legacy application as you code! It’s unfortunate that PHP did not have a real, solid object model in v4.
However, when it comes down to it, building an MVC framework can be done in any language (the design pattern has been around for decades now) and really is quite simple. A good exercise for any intermediate programmer is to build out your own MVC framework in your language of choice. At the very least, it will give you a solid understanding of what is actually going on underneath the hood of all these other frameworks even if you do not fully complete it.
Nice article though, solid writing, very concise.
Software Development
Been using Ruby and ROR for nearly four years and it has gone from strength to strength.
While there are a lot of ordinary articles which give an overview of Rails, this is a exceptionally article, and given that a lot has changed in last few years with Heroku, Rails 3, it might be a good idea to update this one.
As for Stephen point about PHP4 vs PHP5, while it is true to some extent, in practical terms a lot of developers still use PHP as they always used to in PHP4. While technically it has a object model, the adoption percentage is still low.
GlobuleDesign
Hey thanks for this, just starting out on Ruby and this is a great place to start