Re: from ruby/RoR to Java (framework unknown) :(

James Britt wrote:
> No doubt everyone on this list is automatically sympathetic to your 
> plight, but truth is that much of what we see as obvious about Ruby is 
> not so for others.

I wouldn't say that everyone is automatically sympathetic just because 
we prefer Ruby. See my comments below. And there's an awful lot that's 
*not* obvious about Ruby. The current situation re the syntax, semantics 
and security issues looks very much to me like "life on the edge of 
chaos", which is a good thing for the language but not necessarily a 
selling point in a conservative corporate world.

> 
> I don't see how anyone can expect people to just be instantly 
> enlightened about the value of using Ruby; folks need facts.*
> 
> If Ruby (with Rails or whatever) is the objectively better choice then 
> you should be able to demonstrate that.  There has to be something 
> tangible, something other than "I like it."
> 
> Get some stats, some code, some use cases, and build a solid case.  The 
> best argument tends to center on money.  Something that argues for 
> higher employee retention rate, or lowered training costs.  If you can 
> show that using Ruby means faster turnaround with fewer developers and 
> lower maintenance, that in the end Ruby == more profit than Java or 
> .Net, you should be OK.*
> 
> If you can't make that case, then why would you expect a business to 
> choose Ruby?

Personally, I think neither of the "obvious" strategies -- looking for 
another job, or spending your energy trying to "make a business case for 
Ruby/Rails" -- has much practical merit in the situation as the original 
poster described it. There's an old saying, "Don't try to teach a pig to 
sing. You can't do it, it's a waste of your time, and it annoys the pig."

If the OP truly would prefer working with Rails, there are (at the 
moment, anyway) plenty of Rails jobs available. Whether any of them will 
  meet other criteria of satisfaction is another story, however, and 
even with lots of jobs, there are also lots of competing applicants.

And spending company time making a business case for an alternative that 
has been rejected by one's "superiors" isn't a good idea in most 
circumstances. A far better use of time would be learning about the two 
acceptable environments, and learning about the business objectives of 
the projects that will use these environments.

> * Or not.  Some folks will have ulterior motives for choosing one tool 
> over another, but you should start be giving people the benefit of the 
> doubt.

Or better yet, just say, "They may be right," and proceed with the 
accepted environments and projects.
-- 
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
http://ruby-perspectives.blogspot.com/

"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems." -- 
Alfrテゥd Rテゥnyi via Paul Erdナ壮

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