Tag Archive for 'django'

Ruby on Rails… Revisited

Published
by
Wyatt
on April 4, 2008
in dev and planet python
. 11 Comments

Updated with links and a couple typo corrections.

I’ve been working on a fairly big Web site project lately. My partner and I initially decided to use Django to build the site, mainly because I’m a Python “expert” and Django is (apparently) the #1 Python Web framework. We were also lured by the easy admin interface.

After trying to use Django and not really enjoying it, I tried switching to Pylons because I’ve had a good amount of experience with it in the building of byCycle.org. It’s gone through two fairly major releases since then, and so have a bunch of the libraries that tend to get used with it, like SQLAlchemy, Elixir, etc.

I was having a hard time with the Pylons docs, and so I ended screwing around with Grok (which actually looks fairly interesting) and even took a look at the Zope 3 site. I’m sure Zope is really awesome or whatever, but it might as well suck. Every time I look at that site, I’m just like “WTF! This shit has been around for like five years!” Anyway, I might just not be smart enough for Zope.

This led us back toward Rails (even if it is a ghetto). I used Rails a bit last year but never did anything too serious with it. Diving into it today was quite a pleasure. There are issues to be sure, but overall I’m enjoying it by far over any of the other options we had tried. I’m also enjoying learning/relearning Ruby.

If Pylons had good docs, we’d probably be using that.

So, I don’t know if this is a particularly useful post, since I didn’t get into much in the way of reasons (what, i have back this up?!). This subject’s been hashed and rehashed, but I just wanted (needed) to make a qualitative statement about my/our experience, which, of course, is purely personal.

Published
by
Wyatt
on January 3, 2007
in professional
. 0 Comments

Update 3/20/2008: This was written in January of 2007. Currently, I am working freelance while looking for a new job. I have a couple of prospects, but I am still open to other opportunities. What follows is still somewhat pertinent, but I’m no longer interested in relocation and I haven’t done much with Java lately.

I am officially looking for a job—in particular, a software development job. I’m willing to relocate, especially to the Northeast (as in New England, not NE Portland). I’m also willing to not relocate because I really like Portland (even the rain). I recently moved to NW Portland, about one block from Forest Park, and I really love being able to walk out my front door and start hiking (or mountain biking) almost immediately.

Now, I’m not just looking for any old job; I’m looking for a Web development position, especially one where I’ll be able to use modern and innovative tools, techniques, and best practices—for example, Ruby on Rails or Django, AJAX, and RESTful architecture. I’m not entirely averse to working with PHP, but my preference is Python or Ruby.

I’ve also been studying up on Java technologies so I’ll have more options if necessary. After much study, I finally understand what Java EE is, what the various parts of a Java enterprise application are and how they fit together. I’ve also learned that there are even more Web frameworks for Java than there are for Python (although Struts 1.x seems to be the de facto standard).

There is more info in my resume, but I just put it up and it needs work. My bio may be of interest also. If you know of something, please let me know about it.