Why ASP.NET MVC C# Developers Should Learn Ruby on Rails

As I had mentioned way too many times, I have been learning Ruby and Rails in my spare time.

I think I had mentioned my reasons why:

1. ASP.NET MVC was inspired by Rails and in order for me to be a smarter ASP.NET MVC Developer I feel like I need to know Rails.
2. IronRuby is well on its way to being released which has got me excited about learning a new language, Ruby.
3. I really, really like Cucumber and RSpec and would love to use them for BDD via IronRuby on my ASP.NET MVC C# Projects.
4. I think it would be cool to develop ASP.NET MVC Web Application using Ruby via IronRuby.

This is cool stuff, folks. And I can tell you for a fact that learning Ruby and Rails has made me a much, much smarter Microsoft Developer. Ruby has made me so much smarter in how I look at C# and what it can and could bring to the table as well as why certain features are being added. Rails has made me a lot smarter as to why ASP.NET MVC was built the way it was, how it will continue to evolve, and helped me think of ways it can be better.

For example, having started the Tampa ASP.NET MVC Developer Group, I can't tell you how many times Rails Developers ask me questions or “challenge“ me with Rails Features. Had I not learned Rails, I would still be sitting there with a “deer in the headlights look” like I did at the beginning. Now I can intelligently respond to those questions and discuss implementations in ASP.NET MVC.

So, the question really isn't why am I learning Ruby and Rails, but why aren't you? In order to be the best developer you can be you need to look around at other development communities and sample what they are doing.

Now, of course, replace Ruby, Rails, and ASP.NET MVC in my blog post with whatever might make sense for you. But, know this, you have to expand your comfort zone to get better as a developer. Fail to do that and you will become obsolete.

 

David Hayden

 

Related Posts:

• IronRuby 0.6 Released - Better Performance and Cucumber Enhancements
• Ruby on Rails for Microsoft Developers Book Review
• Named Routes in ASP.NET MVC like Ruby on Rails
• Cucumber and RSpec for Rails Development is Elegant - ASP.NET MVC Inspiration
• The Well-Grounded Rubyist Book Review - Manning
• Ruby Optional Parameters and Default Values Like C# 4.0
• Rails for .NET Developers Book Review - Pragmatic Programmers
• JetBrains RubyMine 1.1 Released - Ruby on Rails IDE

 

posted @ 9:50 AM

IronRuby 0.6 Released - Better Performance and Cucumber Enhancements

Really excited about IronRuby. IronRuby 0.6 has better performance and works better with Cucumber, which is what I am most excited about.

According to Jimmy Schementi, IronRuby 0.6 has had a lot of effort done on:

• Lazy method compilation
• CLR member enumeration
• Generic-Method Parameter-Inference
• Testing C# with Cucumber
• Silverlight building and updated binaries
• Samples

Cool stuff. Looking forward to an IronRuby 1.0 release in the near future. Download IronRuby here.

 

Related Posts:

• Ruby on Rails for Microsoft Developers Book Review
• Named Routes in ASP.NET MVC like Ruby on Rails
• Cucumber and RSpec for Rails Development is Elegant - ASP.NET MVC Inspiration
• The Well-Grounded Rubyist Book Review - Manning
• Ruby Optional Parameters and Default Values Like C# 4.0
• Rails for .NET Developers Book Review - Pragmatic Programmers
• JetBrains RubyMine 1.1 Released - Ruby on Rails IDE

 

posted @ 9:15 AM