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Startups, Entrepreneurship & Development

A look at an Open Source Web Framework: Ruby on Rails

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If you’re a programmer worth your salt, then you are probably using Ruby on Rails already, but if you’re just starting out then there’s a good chance that you don’t know anything at all about Ruby on Rails. Well, Ruby on Rails is a dynamic framework that lets you code web ups in a jiffy. But there’s more to it than that.

Here are some of the advantages of Ruby on Rails.

Hot Commodity

Ruby on Rails is on fire. As a result, programmers who know how to use Ruby on Rails are in very hot demand. If you want to get hired and get the job rather than just watching the other person get it, you better know how to use Ruby on Rails. Companies are understanding the power of Ruby on Rails and are eager to hire programmers who can use this open source web framework. Ruby on Rails is great on your resume, so make sure you know how to use it.

Fantastic Community

Again. Ruby on Rails is on fire, and the community surrounding this open source web framework is actively improving this open source web framework and is making sure that Ruby on Rails stays on top of its competitors. You also have access to RubyGems which is the source for the best code available on the planet. If you’re looking for open source that’s still being supported by its community, then don’t avert your eyes from Ruby on Rails and the people behind, around, and on top of it.

Easy on the Eyes

Ruby on Rails sports a syntax that very much reads like normal human language (well, compared with other coding languages, of course), so if you want something that gets the job done but is also easy on the eyes and ears, then go with Ruby on Rails.

It Speeds Up Development

For companies that want to capitalize on the growing online market, sometimes getting information out there is crucial to making their business grow. And with Ruby on Rails, developing a web site and its apps is fast and easy. As a result, companies are hiring their own Ruby on Rails experts to utilize the talents of the programmers to come up with websites and apps that help their own businesses.

Makes Custom Software Development Affordable

Before it was really expensive for companies to develop their own software (not to mention it took a lof of time), but once Ruby on Rails gained popularity, companies found that it wasn’t as hard to create their own software. In fact, by hiring their own Ruby on Rails expert, companies and startups were able to take advantage of Ruby on Rails’ power and flexibility.

If you haven’t used Ruby on Rails before, then these advantages should help you decide to invest time in learning and becoming adept at using Ruby on Rails. From startups to large and successful companies, Ruby on Rails is an invaluable addition to any programmer’s arsenal.

Some example projects (that started out or are currently) using Ruby on Rails are Twitter, Basecamp and Smartlend.

Twitter Bootstrap vs. Zurb Foundation – advantages & disadvantages

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If you’re planning a new web design project and want your site to be fully-responsive and modern looking, then there’s a good chance you might want to try using either Twitter Bootstrap or the Zurb Foundation. Of course you could be using one of the two yourself already, which is probably making you wonder during some of your more sleepless nights why you aren’t working with the other one? Well, you might be wondering yourself which one is the better front end framework.

Here are some differences between these popular front end frameworks:

UI Elements

Both Bootstrap and Foundation love their UI elements although they take different approaches as to their user interface elements. For Bootstrap, they like their user interface elements extensive. For the Zurb Foundation however, you’re going to have user interfaces elements that are compact and tight. Depending on your preference, you can choose to go with one rather than the other.

Development

Twitter Bootstrap is all about fast and easy programming of your cross platform site, that’s why Twitter Bootstrap uses rapid development prototypes. For Foundation however, you’re going to have to do a lot of the designing yourself. If you want to do a lot of designing then Zurb’s offering is going to be the more attractive one for you. But if you want to do it fast and with quick results, you should choose Twitter Bootstrap. Again, when it comes to this category, it’s more about the preference.

Syntax

If you want to code using, as much as possible, pretty looking and conversation sounding syntax, then you are going to have to choose Foundation over Bootstrap. Foundation’s code looks much more straightforward than Twitter Bootstrap. However, if you want to code with something more succinct, and you don’t mind having to memorize or read code that looks like it’s pirate talk, then Bootstrap is the one for you.

Preprocessor Support

This is where Bootstrap and Foundation really differ. While they may look and function the same in many aspects, their difference in preprocessors really make a big, um, difference. Bootstrap uses LESS (which when you look at it, isn’t really a very convincing name for a preprocessor) while Foundation uses Sass. Sass is a lot more powerful than LESS.

Bootstrap and Foundation are so much alike in so many things that even other web app programmers are also unconvinced whether one is better than the other. One good this with these frameworks is that they are continuously being upgraded. Being the top two frameworks in the web app coding industry means that they really have to deliver the good to get the best share of the market.

At the moment, because they are in a head to head, you will have to decide for yourself which one you are going to use. You can pick according to the look of the developed product, or you could decide to choose according to your choice of preprocessor. The choice is yours. Whichever one you choose however, you’re guaranteed of coming up with great results.

Open vs. Closed Source

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There’s a debate going over whether to go with open source or closed source applications, and it’s really confusing everybody, especially those who are just new to the whole open and closed source thing. What really is going on with open and closed source software and which one is the best for you?

First off, there’s an ideal answer and there’s the real world answer.

The ideal answer goes that in an ideal world there shouldn’t be any debate between open and closed source software and that choosing between either of the two should just be a matter of preference rather that one particular kind of software being better than the other.

However, this isn’t an ideal world, and there are pros and cons between open and closed source software.

Open vs. Closed Source: Maintenance

When something goes wrong with a proprietary software that you paid for, you don’t have to do anything about it to make it run properly again. The same thing goes when you find a bug; other than reporting the bug (or not reporting the bug), you don’t have to do a thing. It’s the developer’s responsibility to fix or upgrade the software.

With open source code software, you or the developer will have to fix it yourselves. That means taking the time out to read through the code, do some coding yourself, do some debugging yourself, and then do some documentation yourself. Now it might seem like a lot of work, but when you take care of the problem yourself, there’s a good chance that you’re going to get the fix that you need.

With proprietary software, you might have to wait a couple of weeks, months, or even years before you see any development.

Open vs. Closed Source: Tech Support

Here’s another good-bad debate between open source and closed source code software developers. Sure when you use an open source code software, you all of a sudden join a community of developers. In an ideal world, that many developers and that much knowledge base focused on the same problem should help solve your problem in a jiffy. But this isn’t an ideal world and programmers and engineers are busy doing programming and debugging.

There are very few individuals in the open source community who is really going to be your tech support for the day. Of course, if you paid them to be your tech support, that’s just like paying for the software as well. So you might as well pay for your software if that were the case right? Well, maybe.

Open vs. Closed Source: Documentation

With closed source software, vendors are responsible for providing you with the proper documentation. It’s part of the product that you pay for. With open source software, there’s a good chance nobody is being bothered to document the whole project for free. Or if there are any documentation at all, it’s probably all over the place and you would have to search the internet to piece together the answer to your question or to find what you are looking for.