Clint Hill

Rails - but without all the Rails

2008-11-19T13:59:22Z

At work I’m assigned to a project that is a simple 2 view web app. There is a ton of information and a great deal of calculation. It’s a financial application focused on insurance premium processing. Moreover it’s a quoting system, so to speak, so there has to be a great deal of flexibility to the views. You have to be able to add/subtract items and modify percentages and rates. All the while the view must keep other parts of the screen refreshed with the new calculations.

Ruby on Rails is a great web framework. But for this kind of application I’m not sure it was the right choice. I would have possibly looked at SproutCore. In fact, the application I’m working on reads like a white paper for SproutCore. Rails on the other hand is super good at making data entry and data management a breeze. It has it’s abilities elsewhere, like AJAX support baked in and RESTful practices nearly required. But it just doesn’t really support a “thick” client the way SproutCore does. It is more focused on quick development of views that receive info and save them back to a database (wash, rinse, repeat). People have done enormously different things with Rails outside of this, but with great effort to shoehorn Rails.

Which sort of leads me to my thought - software designers/architects need to step away from the “hot” technology for a moment. Look around. Is there anything else that does what you need a little bit better than the newest trend? It’s really easy to just answer every question with the same answer. It ends up something like Rails but not like Rails at all. Rails without all the Rails.

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

-Mark Twain

To be sure - I might have suggested Rails too. Rails is too easy to get something started with. It’s actually working out nicely. But when compared to other frameworks it turns out looking like more work than was necessary.

Now, would I be tempted to rebuild the application I’m working on in SproutCore?

No. At least not on company time!

Language Proselytizing

2008-11-13T14:13:47Z

I wrote a question to the Phoenix Ruby Users Group. It was actually a question inside an already started topic about Ruby on Rails vs. Java/Tomcat.

The thread was focused on the question of which would you choose with X requirements. The answers started including JRuby and Glassfish and such and it had enough momentum that I thought I could ask if anyone had deployed Ruby on Rails to Websphere. See, at work that’s what we’re doing and I’m hearing stories of problems and server crashes. I was hoping to get some feedback on how or maybe why not to do it.

Fuck. Turned into a damn pissing match. Ruby vs. Java. Yet again.

This one character seemed hell bent on proving everyone wrong on the Ruby group. Yep - a guy who has clear Java interests was on a Ruby group trying to push Java. Wow. No better things to do?

This is where I get bent. I don’t mind if you show me great features of your language. But when you start ridiculing my “intellect” and my experience because I choose Ruby - well brother - you had better bring your A game. And don’t start your argument with “people who chose Ruby don’t know any better”. That’s a bad way to win people.

I’m a language geek. I like them all. I study Lisp, Erlang and Objective C just waiting for a chance to need them. I’m not some dork who just picked up Ruby on Rails in 24 hours. So don’t come at me with your arguments about why Ruby is bad so I should choose Java. Bring me clear arguments for Java and leave Ruby alone. Even better - listen to me when I say “we chose Rails and we have Websphere servers”. That’s the circumstance - discuss. Remember in Apollo 13 the scene where the lead engineer dumps out all the crap into the table and says

“We’ve got to find a way to make this
[square CSM LiOH canister] fit into the hole for this
[round LEM canister] using nothing but that.

That’s how I want you to think. Doesn’t anyone think like this anymore?

JavaScript - scopes - Doh!

2008-11-11T15:45:41Z

I’ve been working with JavaScript a lot in the last 3 weeks. I have to admit to loving it. It’s not my first foray with the language and I’m not a novice. However I’m no expert either.

I keep falling into these traps of scope issues that I just can’t pull my head out of. As soon as I recognize the problem I turn into Homer Simpson: “doh!”.

And it’s always with anonymous functions. I keep forgetting that they don’t see the variables outside of themselves or inside their parent function.

“Doh!”

No time for blogging

2008-11-08T13:36:19Z

I’ve been away for a few days. Been really busy at work. We just recently were told that our delivery date will be pushed out to January. That’s fine. I didn’t really think we were going to make Nov. 20th anyways.

So things are still great - just more busy than previous months. Thats a Good Thing ™

git - merge & conflict resolution

2008-10-31T17:00:21Z

I just got walloped after I performed a git pull origin master on my project. Two files ended up failing the auto merge and were left with conflicts.

I hope I edited them properly …

Jack-O-Lanterns 2008

2008-10-28T02:10:42Z

The girls had their annual pumpkin carving. Always a good time.

First week of new job is done!

2008-10-25T16:40:03Z

I did pretty well. Worked on 7-8 different bugs and got pretty acquainted with the project. I like it so far, even though I’m still on a PC! Maybe I can work my way onto a Mac soon. Others on the team use Mac and I’m hoping that after earning a little trust and respect I can get one too. At least maybe I could use my own.

Anyways, it was a good first week. I’m happy.

Why I started liking the Rails community

2008-10-22T03:05:08Z

I started my new job today. I’ll be working mostly on Rails projects. The department had a snafu of some sort getting my laptop. I told them I could bring in mine. Today I started working on the project. I got a copy of the code from another developer (because I wasn’t allowed on their network yet). They printed out a few bug reports for me to get started with.

I worked on my MacBook Pro (OS X) using TextMate, iTerm, SQLite and FireFox.

The other developer worked on his Lenovo ThinkPad (Windows XP) using NotePad++, InstantRails, MySQL and Internet Explorer.

We finished the day by reviewing the code on his IBM PC. The project will eventually be deployed to a WebSphere server in a JRuby environment with an Oracle database.

It all just worked. Try doing the same thing with an ASP.NET website.

env: ruby\r: No such file or directory

2008-10-21T03:29:59Z

I had a weird problem tonight with a Rails app I was looking at for work. Both the script/runner and the script/server scripts wouldn’t run. They would return this:

env: ruby\r: No such file or directory

So I dug into script/server and basically commented out and replaced all the lines. Now all the sudden it works and runner still doesn’t. Strange. Checked my env and all is right and also my PATH. Can’t seem to figure it out.

Maybe someone knows.

Corporate Developers are Tools

2008-10-19T17:57:38Z

First let me give my definition of Corporate Developer:

A software developer who is employed by a company that provides products/services that are unrelated to the development/sale of software.

Now let me explain what I mean by Tool:

A resource or implement that facilitates work.

And as I define them you could imagine that the largest percentage of developers fall under this definition. By and large they are a part of the IT department.

Corporations or companies that employee these tools dictate how and why the developer builds the software. The why part of this is usually in an effort to streamline other work or create a service their customers use directly (like a website for a bank). The how part of this is what I’m writing about and the part that might make developers “tools” in another sense of the word.

Most often in IT departments there are managers making the decision on what products or technologies are used by IT developers. Depending on the manager, these decisions are based on smart analysis of the technology or on the influence of a sales rep (Strippers and Steaks). A lot can be said about the competence of a manager by these decisions. But I don’t want to focus on the manager here (Zed does a good job of that). I’m after the developer.

What is the developers responsibility in some of these decisions? Should they sit back and accept their fate? Is it smart to go out and get certified in all the whiz-bang technology that the IT manager chose?

A good developer will be able to research and investigate technologies that will help them do their job better. Why shouldn’t they? It’s their job. The developer is doing the work and really should dictate the how. At least they should be capable of influencing the manager. They should be able to program in many languages and be competent in many paradigms so they can canvas the horizon for the best technology. If you’re an expert in one technology, like a certified Microsoft developer, how will you ever know there are better resources out there? I’m poking at myself here and saying I used to fall under this scrutiny.

Go and read up on a language you have never used before. Do some research into open source projects. Quit buying the books from that vendor your company uses. Listen to people who use different technologies than you do. Work on something for your job on your free time using a different language, then show you’re co-workers and your boss. Don’t be a <insert language here> developer - be a software developer.

If you don’t, then you’re just a tool.