

Tools for rapid prototyping: a webapp in 1 week - durdn
http://durdn.com/blog/2008/11/09/tools-for-rapid-prototyping-a-webapp-in-1-week/

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inklesspen
Just a list of frameworks. Yeah, I know jQuery is rad, but I was hoping to see
some actual advice on the prototyping process, as opposed to the coding
process.

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durdn
I am planning to do that. I just posted a quick background story and overview
as soon as I had done with the marathon. More to come.

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nickmerwin
For the rails kids, we have Bort
(<http://github.com/fudgestudios/bort/tree/master>)

~~~
jhancock
for the merb grown-ups, merb 1.0 now has a well factored authentication
framework. The docs/howtos are still a little rough, but I've just gone
through migrating my existing app which had mature hand-rolled User model,
session management, and registration process. With the new merb auth code,
I've just dropped quite a bit of code.

also +1 for Blueprint CSS as well. This finally got me out of CSS hell.

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aneesh
Next step: use some simple data mining to recommend other movies I might like,
and link to a site where I can watch/buy.

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durdn
Yes! Exactly what is at the top of my list.

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stella
There are a lot items at the top of your list!

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lliiffee
I really shouldn't nitpick-- particularly on something thrown together in a
week by one person-- but I can't resist: I bet you'd double the fraction of
people looking at the site who actually build a list if it lets you start
building a list before signing up. After I've built one you can remind me that
I should sign up if I want to keep it.

Its much better to let people get their feet wet with out jumping through the
hoop of a sign-up.

~~~
durdn
Ah totally cool suggestion, thanks. And easily doable with anonymous sessions.
Will note it down.

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vladimir
I agree that jQuery is a perfect tool for JavaScript programming. And I loved
JavaScript after I learned this simple and powerful library.

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tdavis
As cool and useful as Pinax is, calling it "well documented" isn't _entirely_
accurate considering the fact that there is barely any documentation to speak
of.

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durdn
Yep, that was a bit overenthusiastic of me. But I noticed they are improving
the documentation fast. It is a very young project after all.

Maybe I could rephrase "well documented" in: given the clarity and the good
structure of the code I did not have problems finding my way around.

~~~
nocivus
I agree. It's not that it's extensively documented; it's that the code is easy
enough to hack to one's needs ;)

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truebosko
What's everyones take on using something like Pinax where a lot of things are
done and bundled up for you?

I've never been a huge fan of this approach. I like Django because it removes
some of the annoying parts of creating a web app, but I don't like when the
user registration, commenting, profiles, avatars, and more site-specific
functionality like "groups/message boards" are pre-built for me

~~~
durdn
Recently pinax added a basic_project in addition to a complete_project.

In the basic project fewer things are provided, like registration with openid
support and email validation. In addition there's a structure to create your
menus and submenus.

So far I found it a very good starting point for my development and not
obtrusive at all.

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cbarning
For prototyping we just starting using Axure. <http://axure.com/>

Adobe has a Thermo but it's still in labs.
<http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Thermo>

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snewe
Stories like this suggest that the probability of finding someone in India to
do the coding of a complex web app will soon be under $1000.

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DTrejo
Durdn: just so you know, diffract.me has a typo:

At present we are not ready for public _consuption_ , early early pre-alpha

