Rewrite Woes (Take Two) (2007-09-24)
There seems to be quite a furor over Derek Siver’s recent post on CDBaby’s failed rewrite to Rails.
Of course, this is fodder for the Rails anti-hype engine; which isn’t a bad thing, at least when it comes down to having logical, well-reasoned, and realistic discussion about when Rails is and isn’t the right platform choice. I tend to think that, for the most part, Derek’s points center around his own personal tastes vs strong technical reasons—which is not to say they’re less important; just less portable.
On top of the platform choice… to those who are jumping on this and screaming “Thinking about a rewrite to Rails? Think again!” I say “Thinking about a rewrite? Think again!” Chad covered those issues back in December (read bottom-up), earned after we spilled our own blood and tears on a failed PHP -> Rails rewrite.
Not to say that a rewrite never makes sense; just that you’d better be ready to tackle it.
