Considering RoR

Ruby
1

Hello,

I am using PHP and I am considering if switching to RoR would be a good choice for me.

Currently I write procedural code, but I started re-learning OOP and I wonder if this is a good time to switch to RoR.

It seems undisputed that Ruby is better for OOP but I have some concerns:

  1. Hosting: I own a managed dedicated server and a couple of reseller hosting accounts. They all come with PHP (cpanel). Will I be able to run RoR sites next to my PHP sites on the same server without much trouble?

  2. Are there any equally good open source CMS and forum software for RoR as there are for PHP?

Thanks

2

Hi,

Apparently you can but I’ve never seen it done, you may be best to keep your PHP apps and Rails apps separate.
Especially if you’re just starting out with Rails you wouldn’t want to go through the setup.

Heroku and EngineYard are great cloud-based options for Rack applications if you don’t want to manage your own server.
If you do want to manage your own server Linode or AWS are good cheap options with shell access, I’d suggest starting out with a free Heroku account so you can get used to the tools first.

  1. Are there any equally good open source CMS and forum software for RoR as there are for PHP?

Not so much, the reason you get into Rails is because you want to build your own applications, it’s not about downloading a massive system and dropping it in.

So, if you want to build new apps Rails will help you do it. If you’re looking to find a bunch of existing apps that you can install and configure PHP has a lot more.

3

What if I want to do both (new apps + using existing apps like CMS and forums)

4

Then do both :slight_smile: I just think it will be easier for you if you keep them on separate servers when you get around to hosting them.

But you shouldn’t need to worry about servers for a while yet, get your dev environment setup and start learning.

I could be wrong about there being good CMS and Forum software for Rails, I just have tried them myself and they’re certainly not as big as the PHP ones.
Get your environment setup and try a few out.