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Over time, Rails changes to make it easier to deal with the complex needs of web applications. Part of that is changing things to make things more orderly, so

Over time, Rails changes to make it easier to deal with the complex needs of web applications. Part of that is changing things to make things more orderly, so you can actually find your way around a complex application without too much wasted effort. That places demands on developers, especially when migrating, but makes it easier in the future. The amount of power you can weld in the present is dependent on how much capability you acquired in the past. You can always enter a battle with your bare fists and no learning curve, but if someone gives you a free sword, learning to use it before the battle is more likely to lead to victory. This is not learning for the sake of learning. But even learning for the sake of learning grows your ability to learn.

jamesbritt 15y ago
Over time, Rails changes to make it easier to deal with the complex needs of web applications. Why? Why is Rails changing to handle this, instead of add-ons, plug-ins, and gems changing?
- dhh 15y ago
  Because that's always been the mission. Have a solution for most people, most of the time. With the target being building full-fledged apps ala Basecamp (that touches on all parts of web tech). So we've been pursuing this mission for 7+ years. We've just gotten better at it.
- stretchwithme 15y ago
  One of new 3.1 features actually makes it easier for you to use external assets like gems and plugins. Instead of downloading downloading code and then moving files to their proper locations, the new asset pipeline lets developers package such assets so bundler can accomplish that for you. You'll just specify what the asset is and what version you want in Gemfile. That's a change that you can't just rely upon some gem to make. It's really the responsibility of the framework. And it creates order, making Rails easier to work with, especially when the app gets complicated. Similar changes have similar rationales and these can be understood by watching videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGdCI2HhfAU&list=PL379EA9290474C86C

jamesbritt 15y ago

Over time, Rails changes to make it easier to deal with the complex needs of web applications. Why? Why is Rails changing to handle this, instead of add-ons, plug-ins, and gems changing?

dhh 15y ago
Because that's always been the mission. Have a solution for most people, most of the time. With the target being building full-fledged apps ala Basecamp (that touches on all parts of web tech). So we've been pursuing this mission for 7+ years. We've just gotten better at it.
stretchwithme 15y ago
One of new 3.1 features actually makes it easier for you to use external assets like gems and plugins. Instead of downloading downloading code and then moving files to their proper locations, the new asset pipeline lets developers package such assets so bundler can accomplish that for you. You'll just specify what the asset is and what version you want in Gemfile. That's a change that you can't just rely upon some gem to make. It's really the responsibility of the framework. And it creates order, making Rails easier to work with, especially when the app gets complicated. Similar changes have similar rationales and these can be understood by watching videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGdCI2HhfAU&list=PL379EA9290474C86C