1. MongoDB / Mongoid have blown me away this year. Is now my default database for new rails projects.
2. CoffeeScript language is an amazing replacement for Javascript. I can't see myself going back to pure JS at any point in the future.
3. Rails 3 finally feels like a stable and maintainable web framework. All the web frameworks now all seem to work together using Rack. The ruby web development world is really a nice place to be at the moment.
4. Bundler really nailed the gem dependency management issue (though the journey to 1.0 was very painful)
5. Sass / SCSS / Compass got really good. It feels unimaginable to go back to regular CSS.
Wow, now that I think about it, way too many great technologies to list. 2010 was an insanely good year for ruby web developers.
Great list. With the exception of Coffeescript (I just don't "get it"), that's basically my list, too. I'd like to branch out for this next year, though. Clojure and Erlang are both on my list.
2. CoffeeScript language is an amazing replacement for Javascript. I can't see myself going back to pure JS at any point in the future.
3. Rails 3 finally feels like a stable and maintainable web framework. All the web frameworks now all seem to work together using Rack. The ruby web development world is really a nice place to be at the moment.
4. Bundler really nailed the gem dependency management issue (though the journey to 1.0 was very painful)
5. Sass / SCSS / Compass got really good. It feels unimaginable to go back to regular CSS.
Wow, now that I think about it, way too many great technologies to list. 2010 was an insanely good year for ruby web developers.