Is ExpressJS/Node == Rails/Ruby?

[Verahta]

So, I was wondering if ExpressJS to NodeJS is equivalent to what Ruby on Rails is to Ruby?

If not, what is the Node.JS equivalent to Ruby on Rails?

Thanks.

[Jackolantern]

They are both basically MVC frameworks (although Express is not a complete MVC framework since it does not include models out of the box). I would say Sails and node are a bit closer to Ruby on Rails. Rails is a fairly heavy framework that relies a lot on convention. It is also a full stack framework, meaning it comes with pretty much every type of library you would need.

[Verahta]

I see. You are right, there are a ton of scaffold generators in Rails, obviously a lot of work went into it over the years (assembling all the conventions). If you wanted to assemble a similar type of full stack for a Node based project, what would be all the components you needed to assemble to have a development environment with similar capabilities to Rails?

[Jackolantern]

Rails uses some things that I don't personally like, such as Coffeescript. I am not sure if it still uses Prototype and Script.aculo.us, but if it does, you don't want them (jQuery is the industry standard now). I think Sails comes with jQuery, but if not, it is very easy to link in your own download of it.

Aside from that, I am not sure if there are many scaffolding tools for node, but they really aren't necessary at all. You also would not need WeBrick since node is its own web server. Besides that, I think Sails provides most of what Ruby has: RESTful web services are simple with Sails Blueprints, Sails includes its own ORM (Waterline), etc.

[Verahta]

Good to know, thanks.

[Jackolantern]

No problem!

In all honesty, many believe that Rails has fallen behind the times. At one point around 2005/2006, they were setting the bar, and then heading into 2007/2008 they were keeping up with the times, and now they really aren't even keeping up with frameworks like ASP.NET MVC, Play and Laravel.

[Verahta]

Can you give a brief summary of how the other MVC frameworks passed them up?

[Jackolantern]

Hierarchical MVC (HMVC) has really gotten a lot of attention and love lately, and that was an advancement that came completely outside of Rails. Plus I think Rails still doesn't officially support it. And in all honesty, it would be tough to break down all the advancements ASP.NET MVC has over Rails. They almost feel like they are from different decades.