Is Rails 4 Me?

[JoeP]

Here's the question... Is Ruby On Rails the right framework to use for what I want to do?

Here's what I want to do... Community service website with localized weather forecasts, real-time weather data, community forum, events calendar, "things to do and see", business directory, classifieds, blog, and integration of as much as possible with google maps.

I currently have some of the components up and running using a conglomerate of hand coded php, modified php scripts, and other stuff. I want to move toward a much cleaner MVC/Ajax style architecture where much of the underlying data is served to the client in the background as XML, and the display is taken care of by a combination of XSLT, JavaScript, and XHTML on the client side.

I don't know Ruby and am not a programmer by trade. However, I really enjoy learning new technologies and seem to be able to pick up new languages (at least to the point of being dangerous :rolleyes: ) fairly quickly.

What I want in the end is a structure that is much more maintainable / modifiable than the kluged together script conglomerate that I am headed toward now. I also want to improve the site performance.

I've heard that RoR is a good framword for developing "web applications". I just don't know if the site that I'm trying to build qualifies as a "web application":confused: .

http://www.bigtreestech.com
Thanks in advance!
joe

[macgyver2]

I've heard that RoR is a good framword for developing "web applications". I just don't know if the site that I'm trying to build qualifies as a "web application":confused: .
It certainly sounds (and looks) like your site qualifies as something you for which you could use a web application framework.

You site looks nice, by the way. I like the font choice and the color combination.

[JoeP]

It certainly sounds (and looks) like your site qualifies as something you for which you could use a web application framework.

You site looks nice, by the way. I like the font choice and the color combination.

Thanks!
Actually one of the things I want to do is to have the background and colors change automatically with the seasons and/or current weather conditions.
joe

[macgyver2]

Thanks!
Actually one of the things I want to do is to have the background and colors change automatically with the seasons and/or current weather conditions.
joe
Just last night I was thinking of writing a script to do that with my desktop background. I have a lot of pictures from all seasons and I thought it would be cool to classify them and have the script randomly grab one from the right category after checking the weather. :)