From a practical perspective, what's the big deal about Ruby, Ruby on Rails, etc? Should I be forgetting everything I know about PHP and moving to this instead?

I've Google'd some basic info and checked out Wikipedia, but I wanted the TWW view from the web gurus. Anyone's insight is appreciated.

9/18/2006 1:18:56 AM

it's a fad, it'll pass

9/18/2006 1:58:49 AM

I know pretty much nothing about it, but my friend who's a genius swears by it.

9/18/2006 2:12:59 AM

i haven't bothered learning it yet either but i wanted to - it seems easier than learning ajax

9/18/2006 2:16:51 AM

I've seen a real-time chat interface done with ajax that worked better and loaded faster than a similar type of java app.

9/18/2006 2:18:43 AM

every language has its place

building a chat app with ajax is like building a bookcase out of scrapwood. building a chat app with java is like hiring a general contractor to build you a bookcase. building an app with RoR is like buying a trendy bookcase at Pier 1 Imports cus your neighbor has one (b/c he's a genius and swears by it)

[Edited on September 18, 2006 at 2:30 AM. Reason : it's still wood]

9/18/2006 2:29:43 AM

Quote :

"it seems easier than learning ajax"

That's impossible. There's absolutely nothing to "learning AJAX"

In fact, "learning AJAX" is really just "learning JavaScript"

If you tell people to learn JavaScript, they'll tell you that you're insane though, which is why the whole AJAX phrasing really took off.

[Edited on September 18, 2006 at 2:31 AM. Reason : .]

9/18/2006 2:30:55 AM