Summary XForms vs Rails in 2006

In december 2006 I wrote down some criticism on XForms in comparison to Ruby on Rails. The current series of posts points out I no longer agree with my own old criticism. It is interesting to summarize the key point though, in order to get clear where we are right now!

Here are some quotes from the post XForms vs. Ruby on Rails written on december 24th, 2006:

"I lost my faith in XForms as a widely accepted standard supported by all browsers on all platforms."

"Rails is a so-called full stack framework."

"When I first saw source code for Rails, it didn't make much sense to me. "

"A large majority of software geeks make the world think that the main purpose of software is instructing the computer to perform series of actions. This is a crucial mistake. The main purpose of software is communication between people."

"Although very different, both XForms and RoR are solutions to the same flaws."

"Native XML databases are still an exception."

"Considering the additional effort required to handle the server side aspects of XForms, it comes nowhere near the RoR framework."

"XForms logic beats any other technique when used in XML documents with semi-structured nature."

"For someone with the knowledge and experience of a software architect, the simple tools in XForms can be the building blocks of a very advanced and intelligent application."

"A key design choice in Rails is to do every aspect of the app in Ruby and avoid writing even a single line of JavaScript or SQL."

"In my earlier XForms tutorial I learned that I can push the logical model way beyond anything I have seen in a browser so far."

"Subscribers of my weblog may have noticed that I'm not a big fan of AJAX but consider it a necessary evil for usability sometimes."

"Choosing open source software, it is easy to forget about the commercial aspects because it's free anyway."

"While I was waiting for XForms, the only thing I did with AJAX was to criticize it."

"Rails wins easily when it comes to innovation and buzzword compliance."

"XForms is more elegant than pragmatic."

"The XForms concept was born from a vision but it is being implemented like a mandatory school assignment. The key advantages of XForms have an academic nature. This is the exact reason why I like them myself. It is also the exact reason why it fails in the real world."

"Ruby on Rails is based on clear vision and goals and implemented accordingly."

"Ruby on Rails is a role model example for pragmatism."

"For me, right now, I prefer Ruby on Rails over XForms."