# Ruby Newby, Delphi oldby -- how snappy is "the Roob"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [September 20, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106 "2007-09-20T16:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/1 "2007-09-20T16:38:41Z")
I’ve been a [Borland, Inprise, CodeGear] Delphi programmer for a baker’s dozen years. I’m looking into 3rdRail (Borland/CodeGear’s new RoR IDE) as a possible “replacement” for Delpi 2006 in a warehouse project I’m working on. My main concern is that RoR may not be speedy enough to do what this project calls for. For those familar with Delphi, the current prototype I’ve built uses MIDAS technology (multiple thin clients, one server app which interacts directly with the database and is the message dispatcher for all the clients). Besides the database reads, inserts, and updates the clients need to do (actual the clients tell the server to do them, and it does), there is “a lot” of socket traffic going on–messages being passed from a realtime system to the server app, which then dispatches them to the appropriate client, and messages from the clients to the server, then dispatched to the realtime. The messages need to be fast and reliable, of course. Just what I mean by “fast” is, admittedly, rather vague. Is anybody “out there” (in here?) doing something similar with RoR? Would y’all recommend Ruby’s built-in socket support, or the “ActiveMessaging” I’ve heard about but as of yet know nothing about? I’ll check back here from time to time, but feel free to email me direct at: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/2 "2007-09-20T19:07:56Z")
Clay Shannon wrote: > I’ve been a [Borland, Inprise, CodeGear] Delphi programmer for a > baker’s dozen years. Hi, Clay. Apologies out of the way, first as I’m not going to attempt to answer your question in terms of the relative performance of Rails for the simple reason that I don’t have that information at hand… ☹ However, if you need any more generalized help in moving from Delphi to Ruby (and from Ruby to Rails), feel free to get in touch. Delphi was my principal programming language/environment for over 10 years and I used to write the monthly Delphi programming column for PC Plus magazine in the UK for all of ten years. I now work mainly in C# and Ruby as I am a developer of the ‘Ruby in Steel’ Ruby and Rails IDE for Visual Studio. If you are new to the Ruby language you may find my free ebook, The Little Book Of Ruby, might be of some use. Download here: [http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Little-Book-Of-Ruby](http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Little-Book-Of-Ruby) If you have any specific questions about the Ruby language or the Rails framework (apart from the performance issues which, as I said, I am not qualified to comment on), by all means get in touch via the contacts page on our site. Having migrated from Delphi to Ruby, I probably have a few ideas of the things that may attract you and the things that may (at first) seem totally baffling. The fact of the matter is that Ruby, at first sight, looks a lot like Delphi but it is, in fact, a totally diffeerent kettle of fish. best wishes Huw C. SapphireSteel Software Ruby and Rails In Visual Studio [http://www.sapphiresteel.com](http://www.sapphiresteel.com) ---
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/3 "2007-09-20T19:27:54Z")
Clay Shannon wrote: > I’ve been a [Borland, Inprise, CodeGear] Delphi programmer for a > baker’s dozen years. Clay, I’m an old Delphi guy also and am using 3rdRail for Ruby/Rails development. Where are you in the US? I just got back last week from the Lone Star Ruby Conference in Austin, Texas. It was a great conference and let me pretty jazzed about Ruby development. It is possible to write a test project in a short period of time and test Ruby’s performance. That’s where I’d start. Also, keep in mind that Ruby is also a “glue” language. You could port the socket code to Free Pascal, run it on any O/S, and bind it in with your Ruby code. You might consider contacting James Edward G. II and getting his advice. He had a session on “glue” language techniques at the conference. With Regard, Cody S. ---
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/4 "2007-09-20T19:41:13Z")
Hello Cody, \<\\> I recognize your name, too. \<\\> I’ve lived in 8 states and hale from northern California, but am currently in Wisconsin. Thanks for your thoughts–I’ll continue examining Ruby under my loupe. I just hope her last name isn’t Goldberg. ---
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/5 "2007-09-20T19:32:10Z")
Thanks, Huw; yes, I recognize your name from the Delphi “world” I’ll download your book and czech out your site, too. The “powers that be” at work are all of a sudden hot on the idea of turning our project into a web-based type of thing. The closest I’ve gotten to web programming is IntraWeb (very Delphiesque, as you probably know), and so there are a whole lot of new concepts I will have to wrap my head around to really grok all of this RoR stuff. BTW, is Collingbourne a common name where you are? My mother’s maiden name was Kollenborn, and is exceedingly/vanishingly rare - the only groupings of them I’ve been able to find are in Romanshorn, Switzerland, and the cemetery in tiny little Avila, Missouri. –Clay ---
**Author:** ![Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Clay\_Shannon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Clay_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-newby-delphi-oldby-how-snappy-is-the-roob/115106/6 "2007-09-20T19:58:49Z")
Clay Shannon wrote: > Thanks, Huw; yes, I recognize your name from the Delphi “world” Ah, my infamy gets around 😉 > The “powers that be” at work are all of a sudden hot on the idea of > turning our project into a web-based type of thing. The closest I’ve > gotten to web programming is IntraWeb (very Delphiesque, as you > probably know), and so there are a whole lot of new concepts I will > have to wrap my head around to really grok all of this RoR stuff. You will find Ruby On Rails quite a different experience from Delphi. For one thing, it ain’t ‘visual’ - well, until we release our Visual Rails Workbench real soon now, that is… 🙂 There are other big differences (yikes, no type declaraions!) which will creep up on you over time. As I said, if you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. > BTW, is Collingbourne a common name where you are? Nope, not at all. We are believed to have come across to Britain with William The Conquerer, but I wasn’t there at the time so can’t verify that 😉 There are a couple of villages called Collingbourne Kingston and Collingboure Ducis but very few people with the surname… best wishes Huw SapphireSteel Software Ruby and Rails In Visual Studio [http://www.sapphiresteel.com](http://www.sapphiresteel.com)