[Nitro] Questions to help me evaluate Nitro

[Ashley Moran]

On 3 Sep 2007, at 06:15, George Moschovitis wrote:
> Og works both as an object-to-relational mapper (default mode) and  
> as a relational to object mapper. Ie,
> you can manually change your  schema (as you do in AR) and just add  
> your attributes to your classes. If you follow
> some simple conventions with your schema changes everything will  
> work. I am   doing this all the time.

Ok cool - I could not see any structure to help Og handle manual  
schema changes.  As long as I can


> Please note that Og also provides an *automatic* evolution schema.  
> For example if you add or remove or rename attributes
> in your model classes, Og automatically detects theses changes and  
> automatically changes the relational schema
> accordingly.

I noticed this.  I'll have to take your word for it for now, sounds  
like black magic to me :)


> Older versions of Nitro offered support for unit/integration  
> testing. This code is currently out-of-date in the repository
> version :( I plan to actively work on this, this month though. I  
> *need* testing infrastructure for my current project so you can be  
> sure that testing  support will be back sooner rather than later.

Can I be any help with this?  I won't start working on any web apps  
until I have the tools to work BDD, so I'm happy to help get RSpec  
working.


> Nitro is quite compatible with Rails. I find it *extremely* easy to  
> 'convert' most Rails plugins for my own usage.

I was hoping this might be the case, but without actually trying  
anything I had no idea.


> The lack of proper documentation is the biggest problem in Nitro.  
> But the mailing list is pretty helpful. I would say go for it, and  
> we will help you as much as possible.

Thanks - I think one of the best thing about programming in Ruby is  
the helpfulness of other developers.


> The latest versions of Nitro promote the usage of JQuery. JQuery  
> renders a system like RJS obsolete. You can do everythinthing just  
> as consize and be more flexible with JQuery. Now that you mention  
> it, I will keep in mind to provide some example about how I am  
> using JQuery with nitro for some cool and extremely easy to  
> implement ajax effects. JQuery is so powerfull that I decided to  
> remove all the old javascript helpers. You just don't need helpers  
> with JQuery.

When you say JQuery, do you mean <http://www.jquery.com/>?  If so, it  
looks pretty cool.  I watched some of the examples here: <http:// 
docs.jquery.com/Tutorials:Live_Examples_of_jQuery>.  Can you sum up  
in a few words how JQuery replaces RJS?  It looks all client-side to  
me.  Is it possible to use JQuery when the exact data and effects are  
determined by the database?

Whatever, it looks like I will have to learn JavaScript.  Don't  
supppose you can recommend a good book?


> I am about to use Nitro on a *really big project*. Some earlier  
> public exaples are:
>
> - www.cull.gr
> - www.joyerz.com
> - www.phidz.com
> - www.ruby-doc.org

I don't speak any greek - could you explain what's going on in this  
pic? <http://kazani.gr/2007/09/01/okeanos_me_afro.html>


> I hope this  helps,

Yes it does - I'm sold :)  I have a few other things to get out of  
the way but hopefully I will be able to make a test Nitro app this  
week.  It sounds like the leap from Rails will not be that big, and  
it looks like I won't lose anything important (apart from testing for  
the time being).


Thanks!
Ashley