>> I have been doing ASP.net for a few years now and would like to >> take a course in Ruby... I hear there is a 20x productivity benefit!
Steve - taking a class can be a good way to learn; if you can't find one, perhaps you might find some other folks on this list who'd be interested in forming a learning study group. There's also a number of good books available now if you end up tackling learning on your own. Ruby and Rails can indeed be very productive, partly due to the design and philosophy of the Rails framework and partly due to the power and flexibility that comes from working with a good dynamically-typed OO language (vs. static typing of Java or the C-based languages that is many people's only exposure to OO). But... "20x productivity benefit" is probably unrealistic. That sort of claim tends to come from wishful hopes for software "silver bullets", in the classic expression from Fred Brooks: http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~maratb/readings/NoSilverBullet.html Often tools touted as providing magical productivity enhancements "hit the wall" or drop you off a cliff beyond some limited scope of what they can handle. Other tools have depth to back up what initially looks like magic. When the "magic" comes from building on a strong foundation of clean, extensible concepts, you really *can* get both power and productivity. Ruby and Rails has a good foundation to back up its magic. But like any other non-trivial tool, you have to learn the language and the platform to truly use it effectively. Over-hyping technology ultimately backfires, because people figure out it's been oversold and go away disappointed, so I think it's important that Rails be presented with *appropriate* expectations. There's more than enough good things there that it's not necessary to claim it'll solve world hunger! ~ Deb _______________________________________________ Sdruby mailing list [email protected] http://lists.sdruby.com/mailman/listinfo/sdruby
