Ruby is a very accessible object-oriented language whose lightweight syntax lends itself well to embedded domain-specific languages (DSLs). This makes it a good candidate for expressing application-level concerns like page flow and object-relational mapping (which are usually done with XML in our more verbose, statically-typed curly-bracket languages). So naturally, when Rails emerged as a framework that provided this, it became an overnight hit, and at the same time it positioned Ruby as a credible web technology. However, that doesn't necessarily make Rails the best web framework for Ruby, or even a particularly good one outside of its sweet spot.

In this talk Dan provides a brief introduction to Ruby and Rails and highlights some of the drawbacks of the Rails and ActiveRecord model for web applications. Then he demonstrates an alternative web stack called Ramaze that he believes addresses many of these drawbacks, particularly around the areas of evolutionary design and testability.

Dan is organising one of the tracks at QCon London 2009 and the organisers are kindly going to be giving away a free day pass to the event after Dan's talk.

Links

• Django's MVT model, Model View Template
• Storing data during web page interactions. and example of how to use UUIDs to store data outside sessions and gain feedback on how users interact with your site.

Details

Where: Thoughtworks UK Office in High Holborn
When: Tuesday Jan 27, 6:30pm

Speaker Biography

Dan is a principal consultant with ThoughtWorks, where he writes software and coaches teams in agile and lean methods. He believes in putting people first and writing simple, pragmatic software. He believes that most problems that teams face are about communication, and all the others are too. This is why he puts so much emphasis on "getting the words right", and why he is so passionate about behaviour-driven development, communication and how people learn. He has been working in the IT industry since he graduated in 1991, and he occasionally blogs at dannorth.net.

Links

• Sign up on the Upcoming Page (also has timings and directions)