1 Ruby is an open source programming language that was released in 1995. th 2 Ruby is ranked 10 in the TIOBE Programming Community index . Ruby 3 on Rails is an open source web framework that was released in 2004. Ruby on Rails is being widely adopted because of its simplicity, 4 maintainability and development speed. Computerworld lists Ruby on Rails as the one of the top 5 technologies for 2007. Motivation for this Book Ruby is often compared with PHP, which is the most commonly used scripting language, and with Java, which is the most commonly used programming language. In the trends graph of TIOBE index you might notice that since the middle of 2006 Ruby shows an increase in usage 5 while PHP and Java show a decrease in usage. OReilly Radar has noted the trend towards an increased usage of Ruby on Rails. Statistics aside, Ruby on Rails has some advantages over PHP, which are discussed below. 1. Ruby on Rails is more object-oriented than PHP, thus providing all the inherent advantages of an object-oriented language such as simplicity, modularity, modifiability, extensibility, maintainability and re-usability. 2. Ruby on Rails is web framework whereas PHP is only a scripting language.
About the Author
Deepak Vohra is an Oracle Certified Associate and a Sun Certified Java Programmer. Deepak has published in Oracle Magazine, OTN, IBM developerWorks, ONJava. WebLogic Developer’s Journal, the XML Journal, the Java Developer’s Journal, FTPOnline, and devX. Deepak has an M.S. Degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University.
Features and Benefits
Ruby on Rails is compared with PHP and Java.
Commonly used technologies such as Ajax, Web Services and LDAP are used with Ruby on Rails.
Example applications are provided that may be modified to suit a developer’s application.
Ruby on Rails is configured with commonly used databases: the MySQL database server, the Oracle database and the SQL Server database.
A Ruby on Rails application is hosted on a Ruby on Rails web host.
Ruby on Rails for PHP and Java Developers
The web framework Ruby on Rails for developing database based web applications provides a Model-View-Controller framework. The required web server WEBrick is included with Ruby on Rails. The framework is configured with the MySQL database by default, but may be configured with another database.
The book covers developing web applications with Ruby on Rails. Technologies discussed include Ajax, directory services, and web services. A comparison is made with PHP, the most commonly used scripting language for developing web applications.
