Ruby on Rails fans

Inside is a translation of an article from Chris Shiflett’s personal blog.

Criss Shiflett is a PHP developer. In his article, he discusses the fact that Ruby on Rails is not a competitor to PHP, but rather ASP.NET and J2EE, since it plays with them on the same field.

Update: Jeff Moore has written an irrefutable argument , suggesting that Ruby On Rails is specifically for flexies.

I'm glad to hear all the noise around Ruby on Rails . I have always been a supporter of open source software, and Ruby (especially Ruby on Rails) is another feather in the cap. I’m not afraid to say - I am pleased that Ruby on Rails exists.
I think it’s good to support some promising technology and many Ruby fans are more than just fans. Ruby on Rails is a niche product, and although all signs indicate that its popularity is growing rapidly, it is somewhat premature to think about replacing existing tools with Ruby on Rails. In fact, history has shown that technologies can successfully coexist, even if they are designed to solve the same problems. The success of Rails does not depend on the problems of other technologies.
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Like Andi , I do not see Rails as a direct competitor to PHP, but my reasoning on this matter is somewhat different. Both technologies are aimed at solving similar problems; nevertheless, their ideological foundations are very different. Rails are more like J2EE than PHP. Those who prefer one to another simply think differently.

It is quite difficult, but I will still try to explain my thought. To do this, I will need to make some generalizations that are not always accurate and useful. Nevertheless, I think the definition of trends can help us understand the direction of groups of people. Let's say the Internet developers are a diverse group, but I believe that it is quite feasible to separate them on the basis of addiction to different technologies:

• flexible and powerful
• structured and organized

Of course, these signs are not completely complete, but there is some balance in them. So, those who prefer “flexible and powerful” technologies are called flexies. Their main programming languages ​​are C, C ++, Perl and PHP. Those who prefer “structured and organized,” we call stiffies. Their favorite tools are Java, ASP.NET and Rails. Flexies see stiffies by programmers who spend more time thinking about plans rather than directly solving a problem in code. Stiffies are not able to understand how flexies cope with industrial developments. (Some flexies understand the value of structuring and organizing, but prefer free style more).

I think Java has been the burden of the networking industry for many years. Java apologists tried to explain to me why this is the best choice for network development, but the truth is, I did not understand their position. A web application built primarily on Java technology tends to require more developers, more money, and more time. The finished product (if there is a finished product) tends to be non-standard. Sure, some developers can make great Java networking products, and MacGyver can make a bomb from a chewing gum plate. I can only gum.

Rails allows you to mix features by offering stiffies an excellent tool for web development. It also lowers the entry bar for those who find PHP difficult. Those who prefer (or prefer) Rails, rather than PHP, have certainly not used this language or were not happy with it. I think in the near future we will see many new and very advanced Internet applications.

Nevertheless, it is too early to say that Rails will replace Java. He is not ready yet. PHP is now a much more popular and used language in the business community, however many organizations already see the clear flaws of this tool. This technology has been developed for more than ten years and still remains imperfect.

It is also necessary to understand that the hype surrounding Ruby is not yet popular. The hype is not constant. Ruby is still not in TIOBE Top 20 - its popularity is still lower than such languages ​​as Java, C, C ++, PHP and Perl. Now even Ada and Fortran are more popular than Ruby.

Surely you expect to know that Rails is used in many Web 2.0 sites, well, those about which you know that they are sold to Yahoo for millions:

• blo.gs (php)
• Flickr (PHP)
• del.icio.us (mod_perl)

Now it's still flexies time. Let's see which sites still use PHP:

• Digg (PHP)
• Technorati (PHP)
• Wikipedia (PHP)

These are only those Web 2.0 sites that are known to me for their popularity. I really expected to see a lot of resources made on Rails and now armed with a list of resources written using Ruby ( list of Rails applications ) I present to you a list of the most popular of them:

• Basecamp
• Backpack
• Writeboard
• Ta-da list

I think from these lists it becomes clear that good sites are made by great developers, not technologies. Did you know what all these great sites are written on? True? I do not think.

I want to finish my article in the same place where I started - talking about Rails fans. I spoke to one of them the other day and this is what he said to me:

You need to be more than just an experienced programmer to understand Rails.

Such arguments always surprised me. This phrase can be retold as "This technology is better and if you are smart enough you will understand it." In the book Ruby on Rails site, Tim O'Reilly said about this:

Ruby on Rails is an excellent language that reduces the threshold for entering programming.

Tim's words help you understand Rails better. Lightness is good.
Let's roll with that.

Vox , korowkin and korovkin worked on the translation