4 ms·

Meh, less of a true ring than the other one. Plenty of top sites use Ruby. A "big rewrite" is always a bad idea, no matter what the source or destination langua

by swombat 16y ago

Meh, less of a true ring than the other one. Plenty of top sites use Ruby. A "big rewrite" is always a bad idea, no matter what the source or destination languages. Finally, scaling is not a magical property of a language or framework. You can write horrible, slow, shit PHP applications and elegant, fast, large-scale ruby applications. It's down to the competence of the programmers, not the language.

umjames 16y ago
What was the other one? Do you have a link to it? There doesn't seem to be any reference to it on the site.
- grk 16y ago
  http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6995033/ http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6995033/ - MongoDB is web scale
knieveltech 16y ago
Sure, elegance is attainable in any language and I definitely agree that large rewrites (especially involving a language change) are at best perilous, however it seemed to me that the OP's point was largely about common attitudes. Having seen a few large projects detonate under similar circumstances as described in the movie I believe he has a point. In all instances the timeline went something like this: - several year old codebase (now bloated with so many change requests the original design is completely buried) - new project manager enters stage right with a gleam in his and and a plan to "modernize" the codebase - Ruby selected as the language of choice for the rewrite - 8 months to a year of code churn later project is abandoned Now given language hopping large scale rewrites are typically a bad idea, especially if you're converting an existing shop with a different language of choice and established workflows, one has to ask what would lead any otherwise rational individual to decide engaging in a project of this scope is viable. In all of the instances of this kind of project flameout I've observed a PM (or higher) was so enamored of some "sexy"* new technology that all other concerns where cast aside and predictably carnage ensued. * For values of sexy that include: Ruby, NoSQL and just about any other arguably (im)mature tech that's getting a lot of column inches in the tech blog arena.
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  The problem with rewrites is that most people don't appreciate how difficult they are or know that there are special skills required to execute them. When done correctly rewrites can be wonderful things, but more often than not they are failures. Most software projects, rewrite or no, are mis-budgeted and mis-scheduled, rewrites are harder, more expensive, and take longer than the average green-field project, and so are proportionately less successful.
jasonjei 16y ago
I use Ruby and I love the language. I think every developer gets flack for using whatever tool they're using. Honestly, why do other people care what language you use? If you're comfortable with PHP, use PHP. If you love Ruby, use Ruby. But if you're not using it, why should anyone care what someone uses? I might make it known that I don't like PHP or Java. But I won't say that I think PHP programmers suck. To draw some parallels, the detractors remind me of the opponents of gay marriage. Sure, they might not approve of it. But it's certainly not their business to judge what language anyone should use. The trolls out there aren't good for the programming ecosystem. Use whatever tool that makes you happy.

by swombat 16y ago

umjames 16y ago

What was the other one? Do you have a link to it? There doesn't seem to be any reference to it on the site.

grk 16y ago
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6995033/ http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6995033/ - MongoDB is web scale

knieveltech 16y ago

Sure, elegance is attainable in any language and I definitely agree that large rewrites (especially involving a language change) are at best perilous, however it seemed to me that the OP's point was largely about common attitudes. Having seen a few large projects detonate under similar circumstances as described in the movie I believe he has a point. In all instances the timeline went something like this: - several year old codebase (now bloated with so many change requests the original design is completely buried) - new project manager enters stage right with a gleam in his and and a plan to "modernize" the codebase - Ruby selected as the language of choice for the rewrite - 8 months to a year of code churn later project is abandoned Now given language hopping large scale rewrites are typically a bad idea, especially if you're converting an existing shop with a different language of choice and established workflows, one has to ask what would lead any otherwise rational individual to decide engaging in a project of this scope is viable. In all of the instances of this kind of project flameout I've observed a PM (or higher) was so enamored of some "sexy"* new technology that all other concerns where cast aside and predictably carnage ensued. * For values of sexy that include: Ruby, NoSQL and just about any other arguably (im)mature tech that's getting a lot of column inches in the tech blog arena.

InclinedPlane 16y ago
The problem with rewrites is that most people don't appreciate how difficult they are or know that there are special skills required to execute them. When done correctly rewrites can be wonderful things, but more often than not they are failures. Most software projects, rewrite or no, are mis-budgeted and mis-scheduled, rewrites are harder, more expensive, and take longer than the average green-field project, and so are proportionately less successful.

jasonjei 16y ago

I use Ruby and I love the language. I think every developer gets flack for using whatever tool they're using. Honestly, why do other people care what language you use? If you're comfortable with PHP, use PHP. If you love Ruby, use Ruby. But if you're not using it, why should anyone care what someone uses? I might make it known that I don't like PHP or Java. But I won't say that I think PHP programmers suck. To draw some parallels, the detractors remind me of the opponents of gay marriage. Sure, they might not approve of it. But it's certainly not their business to judge what language anyone should use. The trolls out there aren't good for the programming ecosystem. Use whatever tool that makes you happy.