Re: WebObjects/Ruby on Rails
"I don't know what to say about WebObjects ... they dropped the price, but did it take off? Apple users get it for free, but what does it offer that Ruby on Rails doesn't?"
I have never used Rails, but WebObjects offers:
1. Seamless integration with multiple, heterogeneous data sources and no requirement to write SQL
2. RAD rule based programming that results in technologies such as Direct to Web, Direct to Java Client and Direct to Web Services (sort of like CSS for objects). You point to a data source and it creates an application for you. You modify the default rules to modify the behaviour of the application (for example, you want the label for the LAST_NAME database field to be "Last Name". You set a rule for that field and every form that displays it will use "Last Name". If you need to change it to "Surname" you just change the rule and it will generate the proper label everywhere in your application (no search and replace).
3. Application server built in that will automatically do load balancing across servers
4. A truly enterprise ready architecture that allows you to easily put your database, webserver and applications on as many (or few) boxes as necessary
5. Easy integration with any Java frameworks out there (searching, PDF generation, reporting, charting, etc)
6. 10+ years of hard won, stable frameworks. Very mature development community. Any problem that comes up has almost certainly already been solved and written up. Very actively developed opensource frameworks that add new features to the base WebObjects frameworks continuously.
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