Rails vs. .NET

slug: rails-vs-net

By now, most of the people who care about such things have read the
Scott Bellware post Monorail vs. Rails Isn’t a Meaningful Question.
If you have not, go ahead and read it. It is pretty short. Much like
Scott, I have wondered why somebody would choose to build a web
application using ASP.NET Web Forms. Compared to a framework like Rails,
ASP.NET Web Forms is clunky and overly complicated. By attempting to
abstract away the web from web development, Microsoft has managed to
create a Franken-framework that is bloated and clunky. In many cases,
Rails could do the same job faster and easier. Monorail is a pretty
decent substitute, but you still have to bring along the rest of the
.NET baggage.

Naturally, there have been a number of responses from the
pro-Microsoft camp. The funny thing is, their reasoning for choosing
.NET over Rails is the tired old line of .NET/Microsoft being the safe
choice. Sounds like another version of the classic
FUD line “Nobody
got fired for choosing <insert current incumbent technology>. I
personally do not see the purpose in using a second-rate tool to do a
job just because it happens to be the popular choice.