# New project in Merb or Rails?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [April 10, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229 "2009-04-10T12:53:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/1 "2009-04-10T12:53:58Z")

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Hi,

I’m going to create a new web application. Currently I did all my  
applications  
with PHP/Zend Framework, but I want to explore new things, so I want  
to  
give Ruby and Rails/Merb a try. 🙂

So I’ve learned the Ruby basics and now I’m questioning myself if I  
should  
start developing using Merb or Rails? I don’t like (some internals of)  
ActiveRecord,  
so when using Rails I would try to use DataMapper. Concerning the  
ongoing  
merge of Rails&Merb, I’m not sure whether I should start the project  
with Merb or Rails?

What do you think, is Rails 3.0 becoming more like Merb or Rails 2?  
Using  
what framework would require less effort to make it Rails 3  
compatible?

🙂  
Christian

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/2 "2009-04-10T13:11:24Z")

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removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid wrote:

> So I’ve learned the Ruby basics and now I’m questioning myself if I  
> should  
> start developing using Merb or Rails? I don’t like (some internals of)  
> ActiveRecord,  
> so when using Rails I would try to use DataMapper. Concerning the  
> ongoing  
> merge of Rails&Merb, I’m not sure whether I should start the project  
> with Merb or Rails?

Out of curiosity, what don’t you like?

> What do you think, is Rails 3.0 becoming more like Merb or Rails 2?  
> Using  
> what framework would require less effort to make it Rails 3  
> compatible?

I can’t answer that question. Considering the existing userbases, my  
guesstimate would be Rails.

–  
Roderick van Domburg

> **[De domeinnaam Nedforce.nl is te koop.](http://www.nedforce.nl)**
>
> Deze mooie domeinnaam kan al over een paar minuten van jou zijn. Betalen gaat eenvoudig en vertrouwd via iDEAL. Direct na de betaling ontvang je de verhuiscode per e-mail en kun je aan de slag.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/3 "2009-04-11T10:39:25Z")

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There are many frameworks and micro-frameworks available .  
like sinatra, camping , rails , merb , nanoc etc .  
Of those I believe RAILS has the most documentation and can be used  
for any  
efficiently for any scaling applications .  
Besides hostings are also available for Rails without hassles.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/4 "2009-04-11T14:47:27Z")

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Merb is going to be merged into Rails 3. Here’s the blog post:

> **[Merb gets merged into Rails 3!](https://rubyonrails.org/2008/12/23/merb-gets-merged-into-rails-3)**
>
> It’s christmas, baby, and do we have a present for you. We’re ending the bickering between Merb and Rails with a this bombshell: Merb is being merged into Rails 3!We all realized that working together for a common good would be much more productive...

Obviously, I’d go with Rails 😉

Best,

Jonathan

On Apr 10, 7:19 pm, “removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/5 "2009-04-10T21:07:24Z")

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Given the amount of support Rails have, I think you will face less  
migration issues (and I think there will be many) with a Rails project  
rather than a Merb one. Not to spark a debate here, but like what  
Roderick says about the userbase, you have a lot more people using  
Rails and naturally, there will be more collective support.

On Apr 10, 7:11 pm, Roderick van Domburg \<rails-mailing-l…@andreas-

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-project-in-merb-or-rails/165229/6 "2009-04-14T04:39:55Z")

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Be a little careful with your thinking here or you may be very  
surprised at what eventuates as rails 3 😉

Blog: [http://random8.zenunit.com/](http://random8.zenunit.com/)  
Learn rails: [http://sensei.zenunit.com/](http://sensei.zenunit.com/)