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Welcome to another issue...

Open source enthusiasts will argue that open source is the way to develop software. And it turns out they've convinced most programmers that they're right. According to a newly released IDC study, open source isn't just hype; it's now the way most developers make software. IDC recently surveyed more than 5,000 developers from 116 countries and found that open source software is being used by 71 percent of the developers in the world and is in production at 54 percent of their organizations.

Surprisingly, the open source model is expanding to consumer products as well. Take OpenCola for instance. Although originally intended as a promotional tool to explain open source software, the drink has taken on a life of its own. The results? One way or another, open source methods and software are being used almost everywhere.

- Ahmad Permessur
Newsletter Editor

HotScripts Adds Ruby on Rails Category

	Earlier this month, we added a Ruby on Rails category to the top-level of HotScripts. For those unfamiliar with Ruby on Rails, read the article below for a quick overview.

Ruby on Rails has nothing to do with jewels or trains! It is a web framework based on the Ruby language. Ruby in itself is a general purpose programming language like C and Java. It's not especially targeted at developing web applications. Rails makes it. Ruby on Rails (RoR) has been built by 37signals and its official homepage is at RubyOnRails.org.

RoR follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) model, a software architecture that separates an application’s data model, user interface, and control logic into 3 distinct components. This allows any modifications to any one of these components to be made with minimum impact to the others.

The primary goal of Ruby on Rails (RoR) is to accelerate web application development by 10 times! By allowing various applications to be integrated within its framework, it saves time on writing code and requires minimum configuration. RoR can run on almost any web server that supports or operates CGI, but it also has an embedded application called WEBrick web server that further allows easy deployment. Furthermore, Rails can interface with databases servers, such as SQL Server, SQLite, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and DB2. RoR is also widely heralded because it provides a complete solution for creating dynamic and highly interactive web pages à la Web 2.0 style through its advanced AJAX libraries.

You don't have to go far to learn the great virtues of Rails. You can watch some of the online screencasts that show Rails in action, narrated by its founder David Heinemeier Hansson. You can watch him build simple working applications, complete with a backing database and validation, in less than 10 minutes. But unlike the many quick-and-dirty environments you've seen, Rails lets you keep the quick and leave the dirty behind.

While Rails has gotten much attention already as it holds real value. Ruby offers a lot of the things developers have needed for a long time—a framework that is fun to work, and that makes it easier to develop, test, deploy and maintain web applications.

Featured Scripts

Script.aculo.us - Web 2.0 for Everyone!

The recent hype surrounding Web 2.0 applications has lead to the rebirth of JavaScript, whereby it is now heavily used to apply dynamic visual effects to websites.

But let's face it - JavaScript is really no fun when it comes to animation effects. No sweat, Script.aculo.us is a JavaScript framework that gives you the power to create cool effects with minimal code. Beyond visual effects, it allows web developers to create interactive drag-and-drop interfaces and controls, as demonstrated on script.aculo.us’ demo page.

There are several other JavaScript frameworks like Script.aculo.us: Prototype, LightBox, moo.fx and Rico. Go ahead and grab a little bit of the Web 2.0 spotlight for yourself!
 

Run Safari on Windows

One of the biggest pains with testing web applications is browser support. If you use Windows as your primary operating system, things got a little bit easier with Swift. Swift is a browser for Windows that is based on the WebKit rendering engine that is used by Mac browser Safari.

Swift is still in early alpha, but it's shaping up to be a very promising project. Web developers not fortunate enough to own a Mac now have a convenient way to test cross-browser capability.

MSDN Library is Now a Free Download!

Great news for those that program with Microsoft tools or a Microsoft language; the MSDN library is now free to download. Previously, this was only available to developers who subscribed to the MSDN service.

The download itself comes in three ISO images totaling about 1.6 GB. If you have an old version of the MSDN installed, this new edition will update it. The May 2006 edition is out right now, and Microsoft's Rob Caron has said that future editions will also be available as they are released.

Latest DevPapers.com Articles

Building a Feedback Form in PHP
Learn how to e-mail content collected through a form to an e-mail address.

Showing and Hiding DIV Elements
Use the power of the DOM to hide sections of your page and display them when a link is clicked.

Client-side Validation with JavaScript
Create a JavaScript-enabled form with validation methods.

Simple ASP Database Techniques
Manipulated an MS Access database with technologies like ADO and Connection and Recordset objects.

Using Accesskeys on Websites
Assign accesskeys to your website and let users navigate using their keyboard.

Developer News

Flash Marks Tenth Anniversary
Adobe is celebrating 10 years since the first release of Flash in 1996.

Jupitermedia Launches APIfinder.com
The APIFinder.com site features a categorized index of APIs as well as related articles and forums.

Microsoft releases .NET Framework 3.0 RC1
Microsoft issued the first release candidate for the .NET Framework 3.0, previously known as WinFX.

MySQL Wins International Database Contest
MySQL won an international contest for the fastest e-commerce database application.

Eclipse Adoption on the Rise
Research says usage of the open source tools project nearly doubled since 2005.

Special Thanks to HostGator

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