If you follow .NET, then chances are you were pretty blown away by Microsoft’s LINQ project, which extends C# and VB.NET with native syntax for querying data sources such as databases and XML document.
Chris Wanstrath is working on bringing similar support to Ruby, with his ambitious project aptly titled “Ambition”. It’s looking really sweet, learn more via this blog posting.
With some amazement I’ve been browsing through various recent blog posts regarding the JRuby team’s skepticism that Microsoft will be able to implement IronRuby (a Ruby implementation targeting the .NET platform) anytime soon. Their skepticism apparently stems from the claim that Microsoft employees are apparently barred from even looking at open source-licensed code, at risk of termination for flaunting this restriction. While I’m not convinced this is enough to prevent Microsoft from eventually creating an implementation through reverse engineering, I am particularly struck by the notion that this restriction is a blanket rule for all Microsoft employees.
I’d certainly imagine this has to do with the logical fear an otherwise well-meaning Microsoft developer could incorporate some of the open source code into a Microsoft project, setting off a firestorm regarding whether that Microsoft project is now subject to the terms of the corresponding open source license. Of course, Microsoft has far more lawyers than most, meaning the matter would likely largely be moot however this is nonetheless a situation the company would rather not find itself.
However surely for projects such as IronRuby and IronPython, such restrictions would logically be lifted?
I did some rooting around, and sure enough John Lam (the IronRuby lead) implies as much in a posting on the Ruby-core newsgroup:
JRuby developer Ola Bini explains skepticism:
Ola Bini’s blog post
Huw Collingbourne wrote this afternoon to let us know about Ruby In Steel, a Ruby/Rails IDE for Visual Studio 2005. There’s a free and commercial version, with both offering quite an impressive array of features.
I’m very pleased to announce we’ve selected a winner for the “How has Rails made me a better programmer” blogging contest, which Apress ran in conjunction On Ruby weblog, authored by the indefatigable Pat Eyler. Apress author Jarkko Laine also headed up the judging.
Congratulations to Christian Neukirchen for essay, linked here.
You can learn more about the contest outcome at the On Ruby website.
Jason
I caught up with him today for a chat.
Part of my job at Apress is to commission books on open source web development. Without any doubt the hottest topic right now is Ruby on Rails. I’m working with a number of authors on book titles and they’re all remarkably similar in that they’re passionate and forthright individuals. In fact, my experience has shown that there’s definitely a “Rails mindset” that’s quite different from anything that’s gone before. Rails is about far more than making websites.
In his blog posting on notrocketsurgery.com, Ryan Norbauer critically responds to a speech by Dave Thomas at RailsConf, but in doing so neatly outlines the Rails philosophy. Quote:
What has been most surprising for me at RailsConf has been the extent to which so many people just don’t get what makes Rails Rails. The Rails framework is not just a new toy; it’s a radical new philosophy of web development—and of programming in general.
Read the blog posting here.
Matt Wade: Matt is an Editor and technical reviewer of several different titles.
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