Is Rails still relevant in 2018? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#101

Post by UK-Al05 » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:02 AM UTC

mosen wrote: post #24

sho wrote: post #9

Of course it is. The question is kind of silly. For basically any startup, my advice would be: unless and until you can credibly explain a genuine reason why you can't use Rails - use Rails. I'm not some crazy fanboy but until someone can actually name a seriously competitive, batteries-included, all-in-one framework* which delivers everything, or even most of, what Rails does - it is very relevant and you ignore it…

How do you think .NET Core 2.0 MVC compares to Rails nowadays? I've been insanely productive with it. Willing to give Ruby/Rails a try, though.

I prefer .net core.

But it's missing scaffolding and stuff like that.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#102

Post by s_trumpet » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:06 AM UTC

Shinobi881 wrote: post #36

How is Ruby utilized outside of web development? For example: Python - Server - Cloud infrastructure SDK' - AI/Data - General scripting - Configuration management - Blockchain - ... JavaScript: - Browser - Server - Cloud infrastructure SDK' - AI/Data (however, not the most efficient choice) - General scripting - IoT - Blockchain - Mobile development - ... Basically, while Javascript may not be the most efficient choi…

Metasploit is written completely in Ruby, as is Homebrew.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#103

Post by joelbluminator » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:17 AM UTC

IMTDb wrote: post #90

joelbluminator wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the types argument is bullshit but it's just my opinion. Do python or ruby devs really feel they are less productive than java devs because they have no types? What I see happening is languages like java becoming more dynamic (var etc) and languages like ruby/python getting better IDEs (auto completion will continue to improve).

I don't know about ruby and python but in JS there a significant number of projects that aim at adding a type system on top of the launguage

I don't think it's such a huge trend, if it was Python wouldn't be one of the top 3 most popular languages in the world. Yes, there is typescript for Angular. Outside of that how often is it used? Pure JS is still used tons.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#104

Post by meijer » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:40 AM UTC

joelbluminator wrote: post #85

lmm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think an all-in-one framework is an advantage? As soon as you want to switch something out you end up fighting the framework and the tutorials. Better to start with dedicated libraries that each do one thing - it's inevitably where you're going to end up. (Not that I'd consider an untyped ecosystem in the first place, especially one as fond of "magic" (e.g. monkeypatching) as rails. I have sympathy for jus…

I think the types argument is bullshit but it's just my opinion. Do python or ruby devs really feel they are less productive than java devs because they have no types? What I see happening is languages like java becoming more dynamic (var etc) and languages like ruby/python getting better IDEs (auto completion will continue to improve).

> Do python or ruby devs really feel they are less productive than java devs because they have no types?

Yes, I do.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#105

Post by nyir » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:42 AM UTC

angersock wrote: post #32

RhodesianHunter wrote: post #2

> I would keep learning plain Ruby, Elixir, Phoenix and JavaScript as my side tools > I wouldn’t spend too much time learning programming languages outside that list as you need more tools in your toolbox but too many tools may get your toolbox cluttered You suggest not cluttering your toolbox, but your recommendation is a list of completely interchangeable dynamic languages?

Javascript, Ruby, and Elixir are emphatically not interchangeable. Elixir is compiled, the other two are interpreted. JS is supported natively by all browsers and is at its core an event-driven functional language, the other two are not. Ruby is probably the comfiest OOP language out there, and certainly the one with the best standard library. These are not the same languages.

While as a fan of one particular language I tend to agree, I found http://www.jerf.org/iri/post/2908 a somewhat convincing argument that perhaps my view isn't so well-rounded as I thought.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#106

Post by batiste » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:45 AM UTC

hspak wrote: post #14

Rails is still probably the most productive* web framework out there. It's got a mature ecosystem that covers it's weaknesses. * productive as in easy to get started, easy to iterate, easy to get things done.

Granted you know Ruby well and like coding in it. The amount you need to learn if you don't know RoR or Ruby is huge... You might get some stuff running fast copy pasting some example but claiming that it is all super easy to do anything meaningful is misleading.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#107

Post by dig1 » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:50 AM UTC

TimMurnaghan wrote: post #78

eahman16 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with C++ if you use a small subset of it, like for example Carmack did in Doom 3. The only problem that arises with C++ is when people want to use EVERYTHING in the language, because if it exists, it has to be in my project, right?

If you're using a small subset why on earth is it the right language? I had the misfortune to try to mentor a new quant who felt they had to write C++ "for speed" . But refused to use the STL as they were going to use a subset. So they wrote Fortran-like C++, array as the only data structure, bad lookup algorithms and leaked like a sieve. Things are in the language for a reason - if you've got the issue then you use…

Because with small subset you get pretty and understandable code with reasonably fast build time.

Although STL implementations are getting closer today (regarding underlying speed), unless you plan to lock to particular implementation, even version, you'd better use subset ;)

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#108

Post by spyckie2 » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 9:51 AM UTC

vinceguidry wrote: post #75

Apologies for the length here, but it seems like programming language and stack philosophy discussions simply require obscene amounts of length to produce fully-rational arguments. Trying to cut back invariably forces you to end the journey to philosophical truth with subjectively-felt emotion. Would appreciate feedback on what could be removed without compromising legibility. Programmers generally overvalue the util…

I also want to comment that I miss Rails while working in Node. The node ecosystem feels like a giant hash table. It's really hard to figure out where things belong except to memorize it.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#109

Post by onion2k » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 10:11 AM UTC

thinkingkong wrote: post #16

I mean... Let's pause for a minute and remove the year, and remove the language / framework. What are we trying to accomplish? If we know something really well and there are enough developers to support an ecosystem and the talent pool in your is big enough just use whatever you want. PHP in 2018? SURE. C++ in 2018? SURE (You masochist) Rails in 2018? Youre damn right I would. GO in 2018? OK. Fine. Whatever. This is…

...our jobs are to make stuff that works in a predictable, less risky way. Do that.

This is very true, but it doesn't mean "Use the thing that's worked in the past because that's less risky." Languages get better and tooling improves, and if you're still using one that isn't keeping up then you're increasing risk. These days if your chosen language doesn't have things like strong typing, interfaces, good debugging tools, a good compiler, etc, then you should definitely be asking yourself if it's the right tool for the job.

You shouldn't jump from one language to another every few months, but you should keep a close eye on what other languages are doing and ask yourself if switching would improve the code you write.

Re: Is Rails still relevant in 2018?

#110

Post by iamleppert » Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 10:12 AM UTC

One thing you'll run into with rails in 2018 for web development is it's going to be hard to find developers and only getting harder by the day. Rails developers are aging. They are no longer your 20 year old hipsters, that stereotype has long since gone, they have families now and boy are they EXPENSIVE. React is what people new to web development are LEARNING and that's all you need to care about. You can get react developers, who can fundamentally produce the same thing (your run of the mill CRUD apps), for a lot cheaper and they are (more) readily available. Anyone who claims that rails does something magic the others don't do by now is showing their allegiance rather than making a factual technical statement.

In a few years I expect the problem to worsen as react chips away at rails, and with no standardized reactive SPA (maybe save for ember), more and more developers who aren't die hard rails/ruby guys are going to be rebranding themselves, who will then be in the pool with the rest of the react developers, which, also seems to have crossed an inflection point recently.

I also encountered a few guys who had rails experience but wouldn't take the job because they didn't want to risk falling behind on react. Sad but true.

This post isn't supposed to come off as agist, its just an observation when working in a tech field that is largely driven off fashionableness, trends and approval, rather than strict technical merit.