Ruby enthusiasts seem to get apoplectic at any mention of a posting where someone chooses another language over Ruby. I'm sure Ruby is just great at what it does, but aren't we always talking about the right tool for the job?
I don't think anyone disagrees that refactoring and evolving the code would have resulted in gains even if they stayed in Ruby. I'm sure most of us would even agree that if you wrote something, then immediately scrapped it and started over, you might already be able to improve on your original based on some new knowledge you've gained from the experience.
When a company does this, they not only learn new things about the language they are converting to, but they are gaining new and valuable insight into the language they already have used. Posts like this are valuable to all of us because they are sharing their experiences; whether you agree with their choices or not.
I don't think anyone disagrees that refactoring and evolving the code would have resulted in gains even if they stayed in Ruby. I'm sure most of us would even agree that if you wrote something, then immediately scrapped it and started over, you might already be able to improve on your original based on some new knowledge you've gained from the experience.
When a company does this, they not only learn new things about the language they are converting to, but they are gaining new and valuable insight into the language they already have used. Posts like this are valuable to all of us because they are sharing their experiences; whether you agree with their choices or not.