After my last post I received a lot of question from people via twitter and email asking basically the same thing: if REST/MVC patterns are so integral to Rails development why can you get so much done without them?
It’s a really good question. Without really adhering to REST/MVC you can create a fairly complex application faster than if you didn’t use Rails. This is a testament to the power of using a framework. Frameworks (and I don’t just mean Rails here) do a lot of work for you: we often say that they provide an 80% solution. Even muddling through the last 20% your application will be better than an application started from scratch.
Many Railsers brute force a solution into existence. In this way, Rails is a lot like a shotgun.
[caption id="attachment_162" align="aligncenter" width="228" caption="an early rails developer"]
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You can bludgeon prey to death with a shotgun more easily than with your hands, so it's a big improvement even without any training. Your first instinct with Rails is to use it like your old tools. Instead of beating something with your hands, you beat it with this shiny metal stick. It’s a good solution to a problem and many people are content to stop there.
Of course if you learn to hold it at the right end, turn off the safety, take careful aim, and pull the trigger, a shotgun looks like magic. Prey becomes food at the speed of thought.