In a number of the apps we've worked on, we've found that migrations are no longer useful in order to build a database from scratch (say, you're getting a new e

In a number of the apps we've worked on, we've found that migrations are no longer useful in order to build a database from scratch (say, you're getting a new employee started and are setting up his development rig). Mainly because the actual Model code changes so much in between someone running the "rails" command and the "mature app" stage - the validation logic and callbacks being the main culprit. Eventually, it's easier to bootstrap the schema from schema.rb (rake db:schema:load IIRC) than it is to maintain migrations from a zero state. Then you've just got to make sure you keep up with the deltas :)