Ruby on Rails and future Web 2.0 development

While researching emerging web development technologies this past few years, Ruby on Rails, is one of those technologies that just rose to the top. From what I've read, it's proponents say it delivers on a RAD for the web. Where PHP/Perl/Phython represent 'quick and dirty', Java represents 'slow and clean', Ruby on Rails is touted as the 'quick and clean' method of web development. I haven't had the time to devote to Ruby yet, however, I plan to get involved in this emerging technology within the next year.

Ruby was inspired by Eiffel and Ada and designed as a simplified object-oriented scripting language. The creator of Ruby is Yukihiro Matsumoto, a.k.a Matz matz@netlab.jp who developed the Ruby because everything else available was getting more and more complex. Matz has created a new object-oriented scripting language based on a Japanese 'pursuit of simplicity' cultural influence. In that sense, Ruby is sort of a Zen like technology.

Rails is a full-stack, open-source web framework in Ruby for writing real-world applications with joy and less code than most frameworks spend doing XML sit-ups. Rails was developed evangelized by David Heinemeier Hansson of 37signals. A Ruby on Rails example of their products is Backpack which is an extremely intuitive web applications based on Ruby on Rails.

For the Web 2.0, Ruby's philosophy of simplicity and Ruby on Rails matches the characteristics of future web software development, simpler, faster, richer and more robust.