# Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question/77133 "2006-11-24T16:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/businessnews)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question/77133/1 "2006-11-24T16:25:52Z")
I don’t have much experince in using any web based framework. I have a few questions. I understand that ruby on rails is an open source web application framework written in Ruby that closely follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Could someone explain the MVC architecture in simple terms? To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby programming language? Does it support javascript? If one is to compare this with coldfusion, which is the better choice for creating database driven websites and why? Which one is better? * * * [www.OnlineBusinessServices.net](http://www.OnlineBusinessServices.net) - BPO offshore company, outsource Email & Chat 24 website support services, news b2b outsourcing ---
**Author:** ![businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/businessnews)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question/77133/2 "2006-11-24T17:14:17Z")
On 11/24/06, Abra C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Could someone explain the MVC architecture in simple terms? Someone has: > **[Model–view–controller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller)** > > Model–view–controller (MVC) is a software design pattern commonly used for developing user interfaces that divides the related program logic into three interconnected elements. This is done to separate internal representations of information from the ways information is presented to and accepted from the user. > Traditionally used for desktop graphical user interfaces (GUIs), this pattern became popular for designing web applications. Popular programming languages have MVC frameworks that facilita... > To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby > programming language? Yes. > Does it support javascript? Yes. It includes the [script.aculo.us](http://script.aculo.us) JS library and facilitates the construction of AJAX apps. > If one is to compare this with coldfusion, which is the better choice > for creating database driven websites and why? Which one is better? “Better” is always relative. Cold Fusion is based on the premise that you should embed application logic in the HTML. This is considered bad today, and the whole point of MVC is to avoid mixing business logic and presentation, to improve maintainability and flexibility. To me, comparing Cold Fusion to Rails is like comparing an ox-drawn carriage to a Ferrari, but I admit this is subjective (comparisons always are). Also, Cold Fusion is proprietary software, which for me is a fatal flaw for a software plaform. I don’t mind wasting time and money with proprietary games, but building your business on proprietary languages and frameworks is too risky. Nobody knows whether Cold Fusion will be actively maintained 2 or 3 years from now. The once mission-critical Windows NT server OS is no longer maintained, and none of it’s users can do anything about it because it was a proprietary product. Now it’s a non-product, unsupported but still in production in many places that could not migrate fast enough to keep up with the business goals of Microsoft. Cheers, Luciano ---
**Author:** ![businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@businessnews](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/businessnews)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question/77133/3 "2006-11-24T22:27:19Z")
Abra C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I don’t have much experince in using any web based framework. > I have a few questions. I understand that ruby on rails is an open > source web application framework written in Ruby that closely follows > the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Could someone explain the > MVC architecture in simple terms? Yes. See below. > To use the rails framework, does one need to have knowledge of the ruby > programming language? Yes. > Does it support javascript? Yes. Model-view-controller is an old, tried-and-true pattern for separating the functionality of GUI programs into three areas: (1) The underlying data and the management thereof. (Model) (2) The visible manifestation; the user interface. (View) (3) Mediation between (1) and (2). (Controller) So basically MVC just means that visible form and underlying content are separated. This is always a good principle because it means you can change one without necessarily changing the other. If my view is expecting to display the value of a variable called @lastname, it doesn’t matter to it how @lastname is determined. If my model is a database containing a table “people” containing a field “lastname”, it doesn’t care how (or whether) that data is displayed. The controller’s job is to ask the model for the data and put it into the @lastname variable so the view can display it; it is the mediator. Rails literally separates model, view, and controller into three different pieces of the program you write. It enforces MVC for you by the sheer physical structure of a Rails app, as well as by the underlying behavior. m.