Why I chose Rails
In response to Andy’s comment, here’s why I’m enjoying the ride on Rails.
Ruby. Once upon a time (and this time happened to be eight or nine months ago), I decided to learn Python. It didn’t take long before I decided I’d never go back to Perl or PHP if I could help it. (In retrospect, I still use PHP on occasion as that’s what WordPress is written in, but someday I want to move all my blogs to a Rails-driven engine.) So when I heard about Ruby, and then Rails, it was clear that Perl and PHP and pretty much everything other than Python had become a non-issue in my mind. Zope and Catalyst and all the others held no allure for me. Django looked intriguing, but I decided to go with Rails because of…
The (well-deserved, IMHO) hype. In reading about Rails online, the people who were extolling its virtues were the kind of people whose opinions I value. There’s a substantive difference between the sort of people in the Rails camp and those in, say, the Java-based camps. It’s the same kind of thinking that I’ve found in the Mac world. So when I found that those kinds of people were really pleased with Rails, I knew almost from the get-go that I would like it.
37signals. It’s their child, of course, but I’d seen their other web stuff (Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da, etc.) and was impressed. Much of what they talk about on Signal v. Noise and in Getting Real resonated with me, too.
Finally, but most importantly, it’s fun. Coding for Rails is bliss. Once I got past the initial hump, it’s been nothing but a joy. Even when things go wrong! The happiness comes from both Ruby itself (a beautiful language) and Rails (metaprogramming, Active Record, etc.). Having worked with frameworks in .NET for the past couple of years, I was blown away by how tight and crystal-clear Rails felt.
Now, I do realize that Rails isn’t perfect. But love is blind, they say, and so far I haven’t found any faults. :) I’m sure the other frameworks out there are great, at least some of them, and if I had any advice to give it’d be this: go with what feels right for you. Rails meshes perfectly with the way I work, so that’s what I chose. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone, but I’m sure there are people out there who wouldn’t like it, just like there are people who don’t like Mac, etc.
Technorati Tags: Ruby on Rails, Ruby, Python, Perl, PHP, WordPress, Zope, Catalyst, Django, 37signals, Mac
Posted in Ruby on Rails
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Thanks! That was helpful. I’ve decided to go with Rails. The advantages people give for the others mainly have to do with flexibility, but they’re also harder to use. I figure if it turns out I need more flexibility, I can switch to something else, but at least I won’t have wasted as much time starting with Rails as if I had tried to use one of the others first. Also, since I’m new to web programming and it kind of intimidates me, I might as well learn it with a language and framework that are fun. :)
On a semi-related note, have you seen Programming is Hard (http://programmingishard.com/)? It’s a code snippet sharing site. I saw it on digg tonight and signed up. Now to find some code snippets to share …
You’ve chosen wisely. :) If you can, try to get a copy of Agile Web Development with Rails — it’ll no doubt make the going easier. But then again I managed to get by without it, by surviving chiefly on tutorials I found on the web. Make sure you take some time to learn Ruby first, though. Try _why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby and the Pickaxe book (Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide).
As for programmingishard.com, wow, that’s pretty cool! I’m liking it. :)
Oh yeah, I was going to mention that in my earlier comment. One of the other advantages of Ruby is that they have why the lucky stiff and his guide. ;) I was actually reading that before I decided for sure on Rails.
Also, I found out that programmingishard.com is based on Code Snippets (http://www.bigbold.com/snippets/), which has a lot more users.