As Joel Spolsky says "With a contrived example you can prove anything"
Are the rails apps simpler because they are just bringing rails in, and want to test it on something simple?
Have the java apps mushroomed into something that customers can't figure out because they're part of an old legacy system?.
Does this even have anything to do with programming? Maybe the people that develop the rails apps have great designer and UI people that make apps that are simpler to use.
Let's not judge on this kind of anecdotal evidence.
I absolutely agree. But I'd like to add that if you use a more rapid development platform than Java (be it Rails, Django or whatever) you have more time to polish it, iron out the kinks, put a little bit extra effort into the user interfaces, and so forth.
Add to that Rails' integration with Prototype+Scriptaculous JS-libraries, enabling you to make easy-to-use drag-and-drop interfaces and so forth. At least for me, those things being easy to do, I tend to build better user interfaces than if I had to put it all together on my own. Simply because it takes less time and effort.
So, it is entirely possible that the Rails apps are more user friendly than the Java apps. I'm not saying this is the whole story, I just wanted to add that to the points you put forth, with which I completely agree.
I agree that this isn't a solid case for Rails "being better" than Java. I do think it's telling that big business has been using and trusting Rails more and more.
Comments
As Joel Spolsky says "With a contrived example you can prove anything"
Are the rails apps simpler because they are just bringing rails in, and want to test it on something simple?
Have the java apps mushroomed into something that customers can't figure out because they're part of an old legacy system?.
Does this even have anything to do with programming? Maybe the people that develop the rails apps have great designer and UI people that make apps that are simpler to use.
Let's not judge on this kind of anecdotal evidence.
I absolutely agree. But I'd like to add that if you use a more rapid development platform than Java (be it Rails, Django or whatever) you have more time to polish it, iron out the kinks, put a little bit extra effort into the user interfaces, and so forth.
Add to that Rails' integration with Prototype+Scriptaculous JS-libraries, enabling you to make easy-to-use drag-and-drop interfaces and so forth. At least for me, those things being easy to do, I tend to build better user interfaces than if I had to put it all together on my own. Simply because it takes less time and effort.
So, it is entirely possible that the Rails apps are more user friendly than the Java apps. I'm not saying this is the whole story, I just wanted to add that to the points you put forth, with which I completely agree.
I agree that this isn't a solid case for Rails "being better" than Java. I do think it's telling that big business has been using and trusting Rails more and more.