Code For Web

Yes, I have been out of the ASP.NET realm for a while. Why, this little thing called Ruby on Rails has really grabbed my attention on how elegant it is to work with, and plus it really blends well with my work flow and processes at this point in my career. But anyways enough about that… ASP.NET MVC 1.0 has been released!

From the previous versions of MVC that I have used the integration between Visual Studio and MVC was lacking but it looks like have fixed that, which is great and should be a productivity boost for developers. It also looks like a lot of the features of the application framework have been finalized which is great. I may have to upgrade the several sites I built in ASP.NET MVC to version 1.0. That should be fun!

Well for now that is all I have to say until I really dive into this release and give my opinion.

Asp.net MVC, Microsoft Asp.net MVC, Microsoft

It has been a busy 2009 so far. I haven’t even had a chance to breathe or really get any sleep at all. But that’s a good thing with this economy being down.

Overall we have ventured into the world of Rails and Ruby. Which so far has been rewarding since it has brought back some fire to my passion for web development. Yes, you may have heard this story again and again, but its just what really happened. I find Rails development to be a fresh breath of air and it definalty gives me some ideas for ASP.NET (MVC or not) development.

A few things that Rails really makes enjoyable is that is follows the MVC pattern, and really seperates the items of concerns. ASP.NET team is currently implementing a similar framework and has “borrowed” a lot of the ideas from Rails and a few other frameworks.

One thing I like about Ruby on Rails development is that I am not tied to a particular operating system. I am able to use MS Windows, Mac OSX or a flavor of Linux. Since this is an open source framework and technology, this allows myself the flexibility and freedom to choose. Something we do not really see from the MS crowd.

Well, I better get back to work, just wanted to post some “blah!”

Asp.net MVC, MacOS, Microsoft, Ruby, Ruby On Rails Asp.net MVC, Microsoft, Ruby on Rails

This is just huge, big news in the Rails community! Who could of asked for a better holiday gift this year! Or at least something to look forward to in the development world with is slipping, stand still economy. I had a feeling that this might happen, just an itch!

But seriously, this is a huge step forward for the Ruby, Rails and Merb communities. I have talked to many developers who are on the fence about jumping on the train, only afraid to do so, cause of a few ranking post about how “terrible” and how “it can’t scale” for Rails. Now with Rails and Merb merging and forming one team, this will squash a lot of the doubters out there and hopefully be the final push down the path of happy coders!

The Rails team is stating a potential pre-release around mid-year next year, maybe before Rails Conference in Las Vegas. Great timing :). This could lead to a wider acceptance of Rails and open source projects in the enterprise world.

More to come! This is a huge step forward for Rails and Ruby and Merb!

Microsoft, Random, Ruby, Ruby On Rails merb, Ruby, Ruby on Rails

Right now I am basically testig my thought processes (maybe getting a headache) and seeing how I can apply what I have learned over the years programming in ASP.NET (C#) to Ruby On Rails. One major thing that sticks out when started a RoR project is that the structure is already there and set in stone. Sure if you are feeling frisky you could change how things work, but why bother, its already been tested and its ready to go.

Here are a few items that RoR gives you that makes life a bit more simple:

1. Generators - Generate the stubs for models, controllers and other various items. ASP.NET you get use to “adding new item” to create user controls, pages and other items required for your application.

2. If you are a Prototype fan, integration for AJAX calls. I prefer JQuery, and yes there is a plug-in for JQuery which will overwrite the Prototype calls. But I prefer to use just the JQuery library without the rails plug-in. Yes, ASP.NET has the lovely AJAX libraries but they are a bit bloated and the server side controls are not that great, too much talk over the HTTP protocal for my blood. My current .NET projects all use JQuery and have tossed aside the ASP.NET AJAX libraries.

3. ActiveRecord is baked in. No need to stored procedures, modelling and other various task that most .NET developers cried about. But a plus for .NET is libraries such as NHibernate (I use this), SubSonic and LINQ. These libraries make your DB cook with happiness.

4. Structure - where things go, how things work and how things should be done is there for you already. This is great, since it really takes away the having to thing and plan out part of your project. But on the flip side, it might get a little redundant after 10 or so projects in Rails. ASP.NET MVC is trying to follow this method but you still have a lot of flexibility to make your project work the way you want it to.

5. Filters - filters are great because they intercept the request, before_filter, after_filter - these are great for items such as authentication, or even setting various parts of the page when needed. ASP.NET and ASP.NET MVC have ways of doing this with overriding base class methods and MVC has filters cooked in (stolen from RoR I would suppose).

Now, the only real questions I have about Ruby on Rails is, how well does it scale. I know the guys over at Rails Envy joke about this a lot, but seriously, you hear the horror stories about Twitter crashing, and 37singals heavily driving into C code to do task fast for their flagship applications. I will have to research this more and find an answer for myself, I will be googling this topic more and posting my findings.

I enjoy the simplicity of rails, and it does make web development fun again. The current version of ASP.NET MVC did breath some life into .NET development but it still has a way to go.

One thing I hate about .NET development is the “drag and drop” features. You interview a canidate and all they know how to do is drag and drop code snippets onto the work space. Come on now, learn to code!!! I blame Microsoft for this, they always discuss the basic kiddy features and never bother to dive into the good stuff, are we just that dumb when it comes to development and software design? That we need a GUI to do any type of work?!?

Rails notes:

400 restarts a day! - this post is basically a response for Zed Shaw’s bashing and most hilarious opinion of of rails.

Presentation on Scaling Rails - have read this on, some great ideas that you can apply to any enviornment, not ust rails!

Asp.net, Asp.net MVC, Microsoft, Ruby, Ruby On Rails Asp.net, Asp.net MVC, linq, Microsoft, nhibernate, Ruby on Rails, scaling, subsonic, web development

But, I did…

What did I do, well I sold all of my computers (Dell) in order to change over to Apple hardware. Why you might ask? Am I crazy, one for being an MS developer and selling my MS based computers? Naw, just crazy and just forward thinking. While MS technologies have been my bread and butter for several years now, I just needed a fresh environment and not Vista (been there did that).

Here are a few reason:

1. I like Apple OSX

2. VMware Fusion is absolutely amazing, and I can virtualize Windows XP or Vista flawlessly.

3. Open Source (Ruby, Python & others). I have always been interested in various open source technologies so why not.

4. Linux/Unix/MacOS connection. Yes I love the command prompt. I do not need a GUI to do everything for me. Click Click Click done. Typing is a must, must know what is “really” going on.

VMware Fusion

What an amazing application. VMware out did themselves with this product. Truely an amazing virtualization product for the MAC. I currently run Windows XP, with Visual Studio, SQL Server and the whole other bunch of tools that I require for MS ASP.NET development. I choose XP since the memory requirements are lower, but I am finding that I may soon have to change to Vista/Win2K8 in order to use a lot of the upcoming and new technologies that MS is releasing such as Azure Services.

Open Source

As a developer, I am constantly looking at new technologies and existing ones to new methods or ideas on how to solve a problem. One problem I find with MS is how narrow minded many of the developers are, they only know MS methods and processes and never have looked outside that realm. Most say, “MS is my paycheck, why other looking at other ways”. Basically a closed minded developer, somebody I would never hire.

Damn good looking computer

Yes, the MAC is just a great looking computer, with many great “working” accessories. Something Windows-based machines haven’t accomplished yet.

I think if Microsoft did the same exact thing that Apple, producing their own hardware, the number of issues with Vista would have been reduced 10 fold.

MacOS, Microsoft, Random

Have you ever attended a Microsoft MSDN or TechNet event? Notice that the knowledge level is a step above dumb ass? Sure, I know its an introduction to the subject at hand, like LINQ or SQL Server 2008, but seriously, why treat us like we have never programmed in our life.

I am sure that most of the developers in the conferences are bored and use the event as an excuse to skip work or get out of the office. I think MS should at least offer some events that really dive into the available technologies, so that developers can get a more in depth look at how to use these technologies. Plus, stop showing the “drag and drop” development method. I don’t know a single developer who uses this method for development, its just lazy and create bad bad bad code!

Just a few thoughts on the events that they host, at least they are free. If I had to pay, I would demand some quality.

Microsoft Microsoft, MSDN