The Ruby on Rails web application framework has built up a tremendous
head of steam over the last year. Fueled by some significant benefits and
an impressive portfolio of real-world applications already in
production, Rails is destined to continue making significant inroads
in 2006. Simply put, Ruby on Rails is an open source tool that gives you the advantage of
rapidly creating great web applications backed by SQL databases to
keep up with the speed of the web. And with the release of Rails 1.0
kicking off the new year, there's never been a better time to climb
aboard.
It should come as no surprise that Mac OS X is a favored platform for
Rails development. Rails and its supporting cast of web servers and
databases thrive on the rich Mac OS X environment. A popular text
editor used by many Rails programmers is TextMate,
a Cocoa application. And all members of the Rails core development
team work with Macs.
This article introduces you to Ruby on Rails by building a trivial web
application step by step. Consider it a ride on the express
train—an overview of what Rails can do, including a look at
features new to Rails 1.0. In the end you'll be better equipped to consider the advantages of powering
your web application with Rails.
