> I am talking about scalability of application complexity. As your > application gets more complex, code generation breaks down. It might > give you a good start on a prototype but the further you get from the > simple CRUD app, the more code you write and the less the code > generator helps you. In fact, a lot of these generators actually get > in the way of complex apps and you end up rewriting even the core > portion that the generator started you off with.
I think folks on this list have been focusing way to heavily on the scripts that come with Rails to generate *boilerplate* -- that's *all* they are. They provide a *very* quick way to build testable code. They are NOT intended to solve anything more than that -- thinking of them as a *jumpstart* is probably best -- sort of like a "template" in HomeSite/Dreamweaver. If the impression that "Rails is cool because it has a good code generator" has been given, let's quash that -- it's basically immaterial. These are no different than the boilerplate code generators many developer write to save typing. > Does that make my concern clear? Yes :) I don't think Rails key advantage has anything to do with code generation -- what's really useful about it is how much code you *simply do not have to write* -- and how well the agile development process is integrated into the code/framework. Most of that is b/c of Ruby. It's similar to comparing CF vs the equivalent Java -- CF requires writing far less code to accomplish things in most cases and is much easier to work with. If anything, Rails is most equivalent to something like Matt Raible's AppFuse (in the Java world) -- it takes a bunch of great libraries for building web apps and wires them together in a way that makes it quick and easy to write many kinds of web-based applications. If you're not writing web-based applications, Rails is probably not the optimal choice, though in all fairness neither is ColdFusion (though using ActiveRecord plus Ruby might just be...) -- John Paul Ashenfelter CTO/Transitionpoint (blog) http://www.ashenfelter.com (email) [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:225252 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
