For rapid prototyping, I like the serverless one-file simplicity of SQLite. No need to start a db server, the app and the db can be contained in the same directory (and versioned within the same repository). You can drag it to another system and the app still works, and restarting the db from scratch is as easy as deleting the file. If needed, it's easy to manually edit with a diverse choice of GUIs. And ORMs like DataMapper make it a breeze to play with.
This is exactly the point that makes using Mongo a breeze. You can just play around with your models without having to worry about a thing. You just code it up as you go along, and your database just works.
I think there is a false dichotomy here. Not particularly with this article but it is there and more generally is quite prevalent.
The pervasive belief is that software development for prototypes can be "rapid" but "real" applications may not be developed "rapidly".
I believe that most of these "rapid protyping" tools for "beginners" or "small projects" actually should be utilized for the majority of projects.
Starting from a template application is not just for toy projects. Most applications are reinventing quite a few wheels.
Another example: a tool like Codiqa for jQuery mobile. UI designers should be standard. It just makes no sense for everyone to be typing in the same code over and over again in order to display some tabs or an accordion or what have you, when you can do it with a visual designer.
The number one thing holding back software development is a cowardly fear of looking like a beginner.
Basically anything that makes software development significantly easier and actually lightens the cognitive load is considered weakness.
Its sort of as if electronics engineers were still trying to design integrated circuits for complex problems from scratch on paper, rather than connecting existing ICs that already solve their problems or using design tools.
I actually think that for many types of problems, configuring some WordPress plugins is better software engineering than typing in a bunch of code from scratch or even generating with Rails.
Only problem is, how can you say you're a programmer if you didn't write a bunch of new code?
Which is why the classic notion of the computer programmer as someone who types in ASCII code is outdated and harmful.
How can I say this? I have been programming (mainly in a classical sense, typing in LOTS of code) for about 27 years. I no longer feel the need to prove to everyone that I can come up with clever new ASCII codes for custom solutions to the same set of problems over and over again.
One more thing: CSS is an adequate (although not good) solution for exchanging layout and presentation information between COMPUTER PROGRAMS. I can say that because I have been writing CSS code by hand for probably 10+ years now and no longer feel the need to prove that I can do it. Its fucking stupid.
