Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#1

Post by orlandop » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 1:50 AM UTC

First of all, I know this has been asked to death here, but after searching a lot, the most recent post is more than a year old, and a lot has changed in these frameworks lately.

I'm a fairly experienced developer (Java, C#, Objective-C) and I want to try my luck with some webapps. I've used python for small things, but nothing that you wouldn't learn in a week, so basically, I'm new to python or ruby.

So, assuming I'm already a programmer and want to learn web programming with any of the above, which one would you recommend based on their functionalities and ease of learning?

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#2

Post by idontlikebacon » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 2:27 AM UTC

I chose Django because I love working with Python, and it still can provide a lot of value without the framework. Django is also less cumbersome when you first build a project (a handful of files vs multiple directories and files form rails.) Django also provides a lot of useful stuff out of the box -- like an admin interface.

Besides that, everything I've seen built in RoR can be built with Django, and vice-versa. The frameworks and the languages are pretty similar, so it's mostly a matter of taste.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#3

Post by jph » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:36 AM UTC

Rails 3 is such a major improvement that I recommend it highly. The new modularity is enabling all kinds of interesting developments, like nesting apps within apps, authentications among multiple frameworks, and speed improvements.

Ruby 1.9.2 is also a major improvement in speed, and JRuby is icing on the cake especially for large scale projects, integration with legacy code, and detailed debugging.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#4

Post by meric » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:37 AM UTC

idontlikebacon wrote: post #2

I chose Django because I love working with Python, and it still can provide a lot of value without the framework. Django is also less cumbersome when you first build a project (a handful of files vs multiple directories and files form rails.) Django also provides a lot of useful stuff out of the box -- like an admin interface. Besides that, everything I've seen built in RoR can be built with Django, and vice-versa. T…

Seconded. It really comes down to whether you like Ruby or Python best.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#5

Post by gte910h » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:37 AM UTC

Python will be more useful if you decide to do something with the language other than ruby on rails. People do all sorts of very powerful math with it as well (SPSS, SciPy, NumPy and various other things).

ROR is NOT for those who are willing to just get it done. You have to be the type who's willing to find the right way, or risk things blowing all to hell on you (Off the rails, as they call it).

I'd also say, the devs you hire between the two schools seem different. Can't explain it. Django seems to win it for me, both on a scalability ease and learning curve.

(I work with both as backends pretty daily, iOS developer).

Ruby feels cooler, but IMO, python lets you go home and see your kids faster.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#6

Post by ianp » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:38 AM UTC

The best way to pick a framework is the same as the best way to pick anything-- make a simple app like a blog or a forum with both frameworks and decide from there which one you like better.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#7

Post by danieldon » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:38 AM UTC

    the most recent post is more than a year old

It gets asked every month or so, the last time I remember was just last month: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1830063

And I'm going to refer to my comment from that discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1830895

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#8

Post by orlandop » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:46 AM UTC

danieldon wrote: post #7

the most recent post is more than a year old It gets asked every month or so, the last time I remember was just last month: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1830063 And I'm going to refer to my comment from that discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1830895

Sorry for that, seems my GoogleFu is in need of some work.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#9

Post by patrickaljord » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:53 AM UTC

You won't get a non-biased answer here. Both of them are good and similar. If you are looking for something different, give node.js+express.js a try, it's good too though a bit less mature.

Re: Ask HN: RubyOnRails or Django/Pylons?

#10

Post by maheshs » Sat, Dec 11, 2010, 3:59 AM UTC

Python vs Ruby - Both are great. I tried ruby first for a week or so and then move to python; I love python simplicity. According to my learning experience you can learn python faster then any other language (I am a ASP.NET/C# developer in my day job.)

Django vs Rails - I don't have any experience with Rails because you must know ruby first. Django is a natural choice for me because of python. Till now it seems good to me (around a month experience). It is seem not so cool in comparison to Rails but its good (I also know little bit of ASP.NET MVC).

Note: I am not an expert in both language/framework, so you can ignore my suggestions.