Ask YC Hackers: Which Python ORM/Framework works best with Rails-conformant DB schema? | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC Hackers: Which Python ORM/Framework works best with Rails-conformant DB schema?

5 pointsold-gregg7 comments

We have a successful mid-sized Rails project (about 10K lines) and have some time/resources to clean things up before starting a big and important "Version 2".<p>One of the things we wanted to do was to investigate a possible switch away from Rails, possibly to a Python-based stack, due to a number of reasons, all of them non-technical.<p>I'll be looking closely at Django, Pylons and even Merb, but decided to drop this question here to get a community advice:<p>Which Python/Ruby ORM works best on an existing DB schema created specifically for ActiveRecord? One thing we certainly don't want to do is a significant schema change and a resulting DB conversion.

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Well, if Merb is in the mix, you can continue using ActiveRecord. Merb would be the easiest to port to. It's Ruby. It has ActiveRecord. You could use your current templates.

I'm really trying hard to figure out what kind of non-technical reason would dictate a ton of work for no technical value. DHH insult your boss? It just seems weird to make a technical decision for non-technical reasons.

Django can probably handle it, but you'd have to override things for every table. You wouldn't be able to reuse your templates and, well, it's different enough that you'll be finding gotchas everywhere. Rails has gotchas too, but you've already dealt with the Rails ones. It just seems like a lot of work for a non-technical reason.

I hope I won't get killed here for saying this, but hiring Rails programmers is close to impossible. There are only two flavors and neither is desirable:

#1 Bad ones: know-nothings who have RoR on their resume "just in case", along with 20 other languages.

#2 Good ones: snobby assholes who read 37's "Fuck You" slide literally, usually very good ex-Java developers who don't really need a full time job because of a plethora of Rails contracting gigs on the market.

We even tried the outsourcing route but even that didn't work: offshore devs are all about PHP/Java/C#.

"We even tried the outsourcing route but even that didn't work: offshore devs are all about PHP/Java/C#."

That isn't really true. I know a few ex Thoughtworker people who know RoR inside out and work as consultants from Bangalore. You just need to know where to look.

As for the larger issue of the various types of RoR programmers - no comment. (I upvoted you!)

Ahhhh!

Ok, that can be fair although I'd probably consider that a technical requirement. Really, you'll find the same problem with Merb and Django. There are a bunch of people who have done small things (say, a todo list) in them that don't really know the framework. While the Django community doesn't tend to have the same attitude that some of the Rails community has, it's a really small community. Finding good Django programmers is hard. While some in the Django community would argue that it's just Python (vs. Rails' more DSL take on Ruby), it's more than simply Python.

It's hard to hire programmers in general. Django and Merb are much smaller than Rails in terms of exposure and number of programmers. While you might not get as many pretenders or as many bad attitude people, there are simply less people.

I wish I had something more helpful to say here. If you're looking to hire Django people, djangogigs.com and djangopeople.net are good places to post/look. I really think Merb would be the better choice as a lot of the code can be reused - you could completely reuse the models and templates which would probably save you a huge amount of development not to mention require no alteration to your database.

import MySQLdb

db = MySQLdb.connect(blah)

cur = db.cursor()

cur.execute("SELECT foo from bar where baz")

Spend your time customizing a data access layer to fit your needs, not shoehorning an existing framework into a situation where it'll never quite fit.

Thanks. I don't know why people are so scared of SQL.

By using DataMapper for instance I don't see why you need to change the schema, one major difference is that you need to specify the fields in the models.

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