Right turn ahead…

Ok, now back to software development topics. In particular, my current interest in Ruby, and it’s current killer app (framework): Rails. As for the post title, look here. It’s my hope that following the Rails won’t end up similiarly, but if you read stuff like this, you have to wonder. Although Zed seems to be generally pissed at life, he takes it out on the Ruby on Rails “community”.

I just got a new Apple MacBook Pro laptop a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been getting it all set up with my preferred apps. And, getting it set up to do some RoR development. OS X 10.5, Leopard comes with Ruby and Rails installed, which makes it easier to get started. I installed TextMate, the preferred Mac text editor. I also installed the Ruby version of Netbeans. I’ve been an Eclipse (and IBM Rational Application Developer, Eclipse with an IBM clown suit*) user for several years. Prior to that I used JBuilder and Forte, Netbeans predecessor. Eclipse has become a conglomeration of every plugin that can be imagined. It used to be the fast and slim alternative to Netbeans. Netbeans 6.0 is a cleaner, slimmer, and more focused IDE than Eclipse. I wish I could use it for Java development at work. I’ve played with the Ruby version of Netbeans 6.0 on Windows XP, with Instant Rails. Very nice, except for the Windows part.

So, I am going to try to document my journey down the (Ruby on) Rails.

* Credit for this description goes to my friend Kelly.