London Geek Nights: Don't get tied to the Rails

Ruby is a very accessible object-oriented language whose lightweight syntax lends itself well to embedded domain-specific languages (DSLs). When Rails emerged as a framework that provided this, it became an overnight hit, and at the same time it positioned Ruby as a credible web technology. However, that doesn't necessarily make Rails the best web framework for Ruby, or even a particularly good one outside of its sweet spot.

In this talk Dan North of ThoughtWorks provides a brief introduction to Ruby and Rails and highlights some of the drawbacks of the Rails / ActiveRecord model for web applications. Then he demonstrates an alternative web stack called Ramaze that he believes addresses many of these drawbacks, particularly around the areas of evolutionary design and testability.