Question

[Abra Cadabra]

I don't have much experince in using any web based framework.
I have a few questions. I understand that ruby on rails is an open
source web application framework written in Ruby that closely follows
the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Could someone explain the
MVC architecture in simple terms?
To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby
programming language?
Does it support javascript?
If one is to compare this with coldfusion, which is the better choice
for creating database driven websites and why? Which one is better?

____________________________________________
www.OnlineBusinessServices.net - BPO offshore company, outsource Email &
Chat 24 website support services, news b2b outsourcing

 

[matt neuburg]

I don't have much experince in using any web based framework.
I have a few questions. I understand that ruby on rails is an open
source web application framework written in Ruby that closely follows
the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Could someone explain the
MVC architecture in simple terms?

Yes. See below.

To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby
programming language?
Yes.

Does it support javascript?

Yes.

Model-view-controller is an old, tried-and-true pattern for separating
the functionality of GUI programs into three areas:

(1) The underlying data and the management thereof. (Model)

(2) The visible manifestation; the user interface. (View)

(3) Mediation between (1) and (2). (Controller)

So basically MVC just means that visible form and underlying content are
separated. This is always a good principle because it means you can
change one without necessarily changing the other. If my view is
expecting to display the value of a variable called @lastname, it
doesn't matter to it how @lastname is determined. If my model is a
database containing a table "people" containing a field "lastname", it
doesn't care how (or whether) that data is displayed. The controller's
job is to ask the model for the data and put it into the @lastname
variable so the view can display it; it is the mediator.

Rails literally separates model, view, and controller into three
different pieces of the program you write. It enforces MVC for you by
the sheer physical structure of a Rails app, as well as by the
underlying behavior. m.

 

[Luciano Ramalho]

Could someone explain the MVC architecture in simple terms?

Someone has:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller

To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby
programming language?
Yes.

Does it support javascript?

Yes. It includes the script.aculo.us JS library and facilitates the
construction of AJAX apps.

If one is to compare this with coldfusion, which is the better choice
for creating database driven websites and why? Which one is better?

"Better" is always relative. Cold Fusion is based on the premise that
you should embed application logic in the HTML. This is considered bad
today, and the whole point of MVC is to avoid mixing business logic
and presentation, to improve maintainability and flexibility. To me,
comparing Cold Fusion to Rails is like comparing an ox-drawn carriage
to a Ferrari, but I admit this is subjective (comparisons always are).

Also, Cold Fusion is proprietary software, which for me is a fatal
flaw for a software plaform. I don't mind wasting time and money with
proprietary games, but building your business on proprietary languages
and frameworks is too risky. Nobody knows whether Cold Fusion will be
actively maintained 2 or 3 years from now. The once mission-critical
Windows NT server OS is no longer maintained, and none of it's users
can do anything about it because it was a proprietary product. Now
it's a non-product, unsupported but still in production in many places
that could not migrate fast enough to keep up with the business goals
of Microsoft.

Cheers,

Luciano