from java to ruby

[...]... contemplated retooling my practice, I shifted into data-gathering mode Early within the process, I began to meet Ruby developers to understand what was so special about Ruby Then, I talked to managers I wanted to understand who was using Ruby for production applications and how hard they were willing to push it I talked to skeptics to understand where they thought the biggest holes might be Next, I tried Ruby. .. visionaries to Ruby or away from Java could also lend support to a Ruby decision • Team dynamics This intangible factor will become increasingly important as Ruby continues to emerge If the emergence of Ruby is like that of other languages, you’ll find developers want to use it because it’s a new and marketable skill • Maintenance There aren’t any empirical studies about the cost of maintaining Java versus... Rewards With the costs of Java development firmly in your pocket, your next move is to understand the benefits of Ruby For this step, you’ll try to make as direct a comparison between Java and Ruby as you can You’ll use tangible and intangible evidence to support your thought process: • Costs You’ll directly compare your cost structure under Java to a similar one for Ruby You’ll take into account both hard... this phase, you seek to understand your own Java- based pain and what you expect to gain from a new programming language Pain, potential risk, and potential reward are all part of this equation 8 T HE P ROCESS Gather Information Validate Pain Establish Rewards Stop! Stop! Limited Deploy Build Pilot Limited Deploy Stop! Stop! Broad Deploy Integrate Stop! Ramp Up Stop! Figure 1.4: Ruby adoption decision... courses on Ruby on Rails In the chapters that follow, you’ll see what has Java visionaries concerned and Ruby visionaries enthused You’ll also see the deep questions that all of us must answer as we move from Java to Ruby 1.6 Executive Summary • Java is bogging down under too many frameworks • The integrated Rails environment counters this complexity • Early Rails adoption is very strong • Moving to Ruby. .. but they did When Java came along, we gained some, primarily because Java killed C++ for enterprise application development But like many old Smalltalkers, I felt Java was a step backward from Smalltalk Q: What are the advantages of Java over Ruby? With Java, you get sophisticated tools I feel the pain when I have to leave the Intellij IDE For companies, the stability of Java (and NET, Java s separated-at-birth... new technologies, especially programming languages Then, we’ll look broadly at a process you can use to decide whether to take the plunge Finally, we’ll see what some Ruby visionaries have to say about moving from Java to Ruby 1.2 The Java Platform Is Weakening Successful programming languages seem to emerge every decade or so Bell Labs developed the C programming language in the early 1970s, and C... you’ll want to take stock of Ruby and its world Once you’ve gotten a good handle on it, you’ll want to compare Ruby technologies to Java technologies at a very high level to get your head around what a particular migration will require You don’t need a whole lot of deep technical detail You just need a high-level understanding of the tools at your disposal You’ll want to understand the Ruby language, how... Ramping Up Once you know how your system will fit together, it’s time to ramp up your development effort You might be surprised to know how much harder it will be to find Ruby developers over the short run Don’t let that deter you You can often teach a Java developer Ruby faster than you can teach her many Java frameworks We’ll look at strategies to find and hire Ruby developers Weighing Scope and Risk Once... not as well established as the Java community, so it’s harder to find third-party components, frameworks, education, and services • Ruby is less structured than Java and has fewer automated features to protect applications from abuse This flexibility is both a strength and a weakness To be fair, many Java developers face the same set of risks on a smaller scale The number of Java frameworks is exploding, . your Java programs in Ruby. This book is about moving minds. I f you are a manager, From Java to Ruby will help you articulate why Ruby is so important to your project, developers, and your customers broadly at a process you can use to decide whether to take the plunge. Finally, we’ll see what some Ruby visionaries have to say about moving from Java to Ruby. 1.2 The Java Platform Is Weakening Successful. visionari es to Ruby or away from Java could also lend support to a Ruby deci- sion. • Team dynamics. This intangible factor will become increasingly important as Ruby continues to emerge. If