Java or Rails

One of the hot topics I encountered at work was the debate on which is better Java or Ruby Rails. This caught my attention a year ago when my colleague told me that the popularity of Ruby Rails is picking up. It also seems that many Java programmers are switching to Ruby Rails. I really didn’t go deep into this; I stopped with the thought that somehow Ruby Rails is easier and is much better than Java. Then a just a few days ago, I watched an interview with Cay Hortsmann, author of the book titled "Core Java". He talked about where does Ruby on Rails have edge over Java. His blunt answer was it does not have an edge at all. Here are some of his points:
- Ruby is easier to code but would be difficult to debug later on.
- Ruby has dynamic nature that enables one to do database introspection, but argued that this can be also be done in Java.
Personally, I think it’s really a personal preference. If you like something with more control, choose Java. If you like something easier to use, then choose Rails. I really don’t think one is better than the other. Rails is good at some point and Java is good in others.

For now, I would stick to Java, as there’s still a lot to learn and it is still growing. I have made my decision, what is yours?


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