Agile Web Development with Rails: conventions & legacy systems

[Gian Franco]

Hello,

I'm not well versed Rails yet, but if I'm not
mistaken many of the advantages of Rails come
from strict conventions that allow the developer
to focus on...development.

Isn't it so that, for example database objects
naming conventions, might be too restrictive or
too renewing in existing systems? A DBA might
not be very open to such changes.

Kind regards,

Gian

[Aitor Imaz]

The naming conventions are defaults for the most part. You can override them if you will, although you'll be losing a lot of what Rails gives you in terms of simplicity and productivity.

There are more things that can drive some DBAs nuts, like no composite keys (although I believe there are plugins that can let you use them). So yes, it's better suited for "new" applications.

Personally, I don't see it as a restriction, it's a feature. Rails doesn't claim to be the best tool for *any* job, but it's definitely the best tool for *many* jobs.

[Eric Martinez]

By following the conventions you get to harness some of the powerful Rails features that you might otherwise miss out on. As Aitor Imaz said, I do not see them as restrictions at all.

[Gian Franco]

I agree with you that conventions harness some of
the powerful Rails features, but my point is not
that I would like to work with Rails just for the
sake of it.

If Rails is meant to improve ones productivity fine,
but how much momentum can it gain in an environment
where it's difficult to implement it's requirements
that will allow these productivity boosts?

It's back to 'there is no silver bullet', but then
again I'm still in need of more actual facts regarding
Rails and it's success.

Kind regards,

Gian

[Prag Dave]

Just about every convention in Rails can be overridden, so in theory you can always adapt to a legacy schema.

Having said that, there are times where this might get to be just too much of a pain. My advice would be to experiment with writing basic models that map any legacy schema you might be thinking of using, and seeing if it works, before comitting to the full application.