Deploying Rails Applications - A Step-by-Step Guide by Ezra Zygmuntowicz (Engine Yard founder), Bruce Tate and Geoffrey Grosenbach is now a Beta book.

If you buy the book Deploying Rails Applications you can get early notification when it ships, order a beta copy, and support the publisher and author that make it happen. Bruce Tate will be giving a percentage of his cut to charity… probably Homes Without Borders. Please help them make the best book possible.

RubyLearning caught up with Ola Bini at Bangalore, India and talked to him about JRuby. Ola provides some insights for easy adoption of JRuby by the large pool of Java and Ruby developers in India.

Hello Ola, and welcome to RubyLearning.com. Tell us something about your background and how you came to JRuby.

Well, I’m a programming language geek and have looked at many languages for a long time. I’ve used LISP since before I can remember, but Java have always been the language that is economically viable to use. But I’m not that fond of the Java language - the platform is very good, but the language… well. So I looked around for something better. I’ve known Ruby for a few years; it’s got some very nice similarities to LISP, Smalltalk and other very nice languages. Finally I found the JRuby project, realized that it would hit my sweet spot perfectly and decided to start helping out on it.

Could you tell us some reasons on why a Ruby developer should start looking into JRuby?

There are several good reasons: most of the problems of Ruby 1.8 are actually resolved by JRuby in one way or the other. You get better threading semantics, native unicode, active development, easier extensions, very good garbage collection - and superb integration with Java libraries. All of these are very nice things for a Ruby developer since they fix deficiencies in the current MRI 1.8.

How should a person working on Ruby approach JRuby?

The first step is just to try your application out on it. If it’s a regular Ruby application that doesn’t use native extensions, the chance is very good that it will just run on JRuby. The next step - after the application runs - is to get ready to integrate some of the Java specific libraries and start using them instead. For example, theres a backend to REXML that uses Java libraries instead; this makes REXML much faster and also safer. It will also add new capabilities to REXML, like validation and so on. And this is with the exact same interface as regular REXML, so you get all this for free, just by moving. The same thing applies for running JRuby on Rails, and using JDBC as a back end connector.

With a stable release now in hand what is your current focus and roadmap for JRuby?

Well, the current focus is on completing the compiler and also working on performance. We are not making huge changes in the functionality right now - instead looking at external libraries that enhance the value of JRuby.

Can you give some examples where JRuby is being persistently used?

Well, ThoughtWorks sells Mingle, which runs on JRuby on Rails. Sun has some JRuby projects. Oracle is working on JRuby projects. And there are many, many smaller projects being developed all around the world.

Can you tell us one area of JRuby wherein you feel there needs to be an improvement?

Well, the 1.0-release was focused on compatibility. The performance was pretty good, but now we really want to surpass MRI in performance. So that’s what we’re working on right now. Aside from that, documentation is sorely needed too. (My book, that comes out Sept. 24th, will probably help some with that.)

Is there a plan to have a developers tool for JRuby?

Well, right now there is a lack of development tools for Ruby itself - many companies are working on it though. These tools will work for JRuby too. I know that NetBeans are planning to add some JRuby specific things to their Ruby tool later on.

Can you highlight on some good mechanisms for deploying JRuby based applications?

That’s kinda hard. If you’re talking about Rails applications, using WAR based deployment to a Java application server is generally the best solution.

How is the performance and scalability aspect of JRuby?

I addressed performance above. Scalability is another thing. Generally JRuby takes more memory than MRI, but usually scales better due to better threading.

Finally, how easy it is to pickup JRuby? Any pointers?

It’s as easy as picking up Ruby. It’s really easy to get started, and if you google for the JRuby wiki, you will find lots of good information for getting started. Once again, my book will help here…

Thanks Ola for sharing your views with the RubyLearning.com members.

The RubyLearning Job Board has a new job requirement from Accenture, Chicago, IL; San Jose, CA.

Company: Accenture

Location: Chicago, IL; San Jose, CA

Description:

Accenture Technology Labs creates a vision of how technology will shape the future and invents the next wave of cutting-edge business solutions. Our research and development team explores new and emerging technologies that are one to five years out, and uses them to create prototypes and cutting-edge solutions that will help organizations maximize performance in the future.

We are looking for Web 2.0 developers to assist in consulting engagements and research and development projects with emerging technologies. You will work with other Labs individuals to envision and create applications that use these technologies.

Accenture Technology Labs are located in Chicago, Illinois and San Jose, California.

Qualifications:

4-year degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

2 years of experience in programming skills in any of the following languages: Ajax, Apollo, Ruby on Rails, Flex.

Including working knowledge of one of the following: Java, .NET, C++, C#, COBOL, J2EE

For full details.

In August 2006, I conducted some Free Ruby Lessons on the net. Peter Cooper the author of Beginning Ruby wrote a small note on his popular Ruby Inside blog and over 100+ would-be Ruby developers registered and learned Ruby along with me. These lessons culminated into my RubyLearning site and my Ruby Study Notes eBook.

Even today, I keep getting a lot of emails to re-start these lessons, and to encourage you all, I have decided to do so.

Here’s the plan:

• The Free Ruby Lessons are open to anyone who wants to get involved.
• First, you need to register yourself on the RubyLearning Forum. If you are already a member of the forum, you don’t need to register again.
• I shall be covering Core Ruby as outlined by this Ruby syllabus.
• I start the Free Ruby Lessons from Monday, 27th August 2007 IST.
• You can join the classes and start anytime you want.
• Depending on my time availability, every third or fourth day I shall tell you to read, explore, try out the problems on the topics that I will outline to you on the forum.
• You should post your questions, queries related to those topics on the forum itself, where anyone is free to answer.
• Finally, I will assume that you know some programming language and the focus of the lessons would be more towards application programming.

I have found that if one learns a programming language along with a group and with set targets every day; one learns faster.

In case you have any queries or questions about this blog post, kindly post them as comments here.

Also, please pass on this message to all those interested in learning Ruby programming.

Come on, Join the Free Ruby Lessons.

Update:

5th Sept. at 8.00 hrs - Over 365+ would-be Ruby developers are under-going the course.

25th Aug. at 11 hrs - My sincere thanks to the following for writing about this event and making it popular.

• The DZone community
• Peter Cooper
• InfoQ.com (Information Queue) an independent online community

It’s time for a reader question - how can I make my rubylearning.com site / blog / forum more useful for you?

I like to ask readers this question in an effort to keep improving the site / blog / forum and making it more effective in helping to improve your Ruby learning process.

I don’t like to lead such discussions too deliberately - but find that the discussion is better if I give a few general questions to stimulate the conversation. So here are some areas you might like to comment on:

Topics - are there topics (specific or general) you’d like covered in the coming months? What are the main issues that you’re facing as a would-be Ruby developer at the moment? What would you like to learn about or grow most in for the remainder of the year?

Types of Posts - reader questions, more mini-tutorials, case studies, short tips, guest posts, tool reviews…. have your say about what you’d like most/least.

Posting Frequency - too many posts, not enough, just right?

Community - do you feel you connect well with other readers? Are there features that you’d like added to help connect more?

Other Ideas and Feedback - anything goes, big or little.

The ‘Rules’ - Any feedback, suggestions, dreams or ideas that you have are welcome. While I can’t promise to respond to each comment or put every suggestion into place I make a commitment to you to read anything you have to say.

All that I ask in return is that you be honest, courteous and constructive with your feedback.

RubyLearning is a project that I pour a lot of time and effort into - as a result sometimes criticism can be a little difficult to hear - however I think it’s vital to take it all on board if this is to continue to be a valuable resource for would-be Ruby developers wanting to improve their Ruby skills.

So it’s over to you. Feel free to either leave your feedback here or to share them privately with me via my Contact Page on rubylearning.com