There’s no doubt about it, Ruby on Rails is hot, but not the only game in the Ruby web framework town.  Many Ruby developers are Ruby developers because of Ruby on Rails but these developers are missing out on a web framework just a year old, Merb.

Merb is a web framework created by Ezra Zygmuntowicz, founder of The Engine Yard which provides its own solution to building web applications based on their work with Rails and leveraging some of the downsides to build something better.   Rails uses ActiveRecord to access data but Merb lets the developer choose from others, including DataMapper.  DataMapper is an ORM increasing in popularity due to its simplicity.

I have found a blog over at Atlantic Dominion Solutions that provides some good information on using some of the latest coming from the Ruby world.  One such nugget was an article by Chris Kaukis titled Merborial: Getting Started with Merb and DataMapper.

The article covers:

• Installing DataMapper
• Installing Merb
• Installing DataMapper drivers for Merb
• Installing Merb Helpers
• Creating a Merb application
• Connecting up to DataMapper
• Database setup and Configuration with Merb
• Running the Merb application

This is one of those tutorials I had thought to create and blog about but ADS has done this already, so I just wanted to point it out and let you in on a great resource in the ADS blog.

Merb development is coming along at a really fast pace and the team has really thought out the architecture implemented in Merb 1.0.  I am personally excited to see these updates coming.  The new Merb-core gem is small and fast, allowing developers to create small applications without a large overhead, much like Camping, but with a richer, more complete framework.

My latest article is up on InfoQ talking about the latest Merb developments with Ezra Zygmuntowicz, Merb creator and founder of the Engine Yard.

As you read through the interview, understand an important point by Ezra:

Merb is a web application framework with many similarities to Rails.  The main difference is a focus on understandable, non-magic, fast code.

I think this is important for Merb as well as future Ruby frameworks, Ruby on Rails is the current killer application for Ruby.  Rails is the pioneer in Ruby web frameworks but it is not without faults.  Any pioneer knows there will be followers who imitate and duplicate their efforts to leverage their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.  In my opinion, Merb is a perfect example.  The Merb team decided what they did not like in Rails and created their own framework and avoided those problems, a perfect example of evolution in action.

I think we will see many Ruby frameworks looking to improve on Rails, improve on Merb and create better and better technology.  This is certainly exciting times in Ruby web development.