Re: [Maypole] Maypole's direction and Perl web frameworks

From: Peter Speltz (peterspeltz at yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Jan 09 2005 - 04:05:15 GMT


Hi. Others will probably have more useful info for you but I'm happy to give
you my two cents on Maypole. I LOVE it. I'm in a similar situation as you --
I'm a solo developer for a small business. And like you, i have a better chance
of getting hit by a train than getting a coworker. I started out writing my
own system but a few weeks into it found Maypole thanks to my laziness. My boss
and I looked at it and decided to go with it. It was the best decision we've
ever made.

I think Maypole has a loyal following and isn't going anywhere. I love it
because it is powerful, yet simple and intuitive and fun to use once you get
the hang of it. I'm a complete beginner and it took me about two months from
downloading it to get the hang of it and be productive. For some it didn't suit
their style but for this beginning perl programmer, it was perfect.

Pluses Maypole has for beginners are :
User session management plugin
There is no need to know the modperl api to use modperl.
You pretty much just write the business logic functions and HTML Templates and
        Maypole does the rest.
It is easy to customize.

I'd say, your time wouldn't be wasted learning Maypole and making a SPOPS model
class for it. That be a good benefit to the community.

HTH

--- "Vsevolod (Simon) Ilyushchenko" <simonf at cshl.edu> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I develop simple Perl database-driven web applications at work. Over the
> last 2-3 years I've come up with a framework that is similar to Maypole
> (though much simpler and less neat, of course).
>
> My goal is to stabilize my code on a fairly standard framework. I don't
> want my employer be stuck with a non-standard code that is solving
> rather standard problems if I am run over by a commuter train (or, less
> probably, we hire more developers). I'd like a not-very-experienced Joe
> Developer from the street be able to come in and find an intuitive,
> familiar system.
>
> The upside of my situation is that I develop alone, the code base is not
> large and can easily swap one component for another. The downside is
> that I develop alone and my time is limited.
>
> I don't expect to get definitive advice here, but I'd like to find out
> if I've missed some important considerations.
>
> So far I can see these choices:
>
> 1. Release my code as yet another framework and promote it.
> 2. Go with Maypole.
> 3. Go with the future Catalyst.
> 4. Go with something else Perl-based: Apache::AxKit?
> 5. Switch to Java.
>
> 1 is wonderful for the ego, but not quite realistic given the time
> constraints. And I don't think I am as good as Maypole developers. Plus,
> I HATE duplicating effort. I'd rather pick an industry standard and go
> with it. (If I were writing in Java, it'd be much easier. :) I'd just
> use Struts or Spring.)
>
> 2 and 3: I've read some recent threads on this list and AFAIU, Maypole
> is fairly actively maintained, though not by Simon Cozens, and Sebastian
> Riedel is developing Catalyst. My problem with Maypole is that it's
> using Class::DBI and TT (I use SPOPS and Mason), but this is more
> aesthetical than practical. Class::DBI lacks a few features that
> I like in SPOPS, and I am more used to Mason, but I can switch if I have
> a business case to do so.
>
> However, I've read arguments here about being component-independent vs
> being tightly coupled to one good component set, as well as other
> arguments. Is there a certain direction where things are going now, or
> is the existence/viability of Maypole up in the air?
>
> When is Catalyst expected to appear?
>
> 4. I don't know of anything else that is comparable to Maypole. Most
> other similar Perl projects are too simplistic (CGI::Application) or too
> abstract (Apache::AxKit). OpenInteract, much as I respect Chris Winters,
> is an overkill too. Am I missing something else?
>
> 5. Java. I am not very optimistic about the rates of development of Perl
> web frameworks, but at least the situation is slowly improving. However,
> Java is far ahead of Perl in terms of standard approaches to web apps
> (Spring, Hibernate) and available expertise. If I were starting a
> mid-sized project with several developers now, I'd go with Java in an
> eyeblink, though Perl is still closer to my heart as a language.
> However, I am just a single developer on small projects. OTOH, if a year
> or two down the road I'm forced to port my code either to Perl 6 or to
> Java, I would have a very hard choice to make.
>
> I would appreciate any information and/or advice.
>
> Thanks,
> Simon
> --
>
> Simon (Vsevolod ILyushchenko) simonf at cshl.edu
> http://www.simonf.com
>
> Terrorism is a tactic and so to declare war on terrorism
> is equivalent to Roosevelt's declaring war on blitzkrieg.
>
> Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. national security advisor, 1977-81
>
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> maypole mailing list
> maypole at lists.netthink.co.uk
> http://lists.netthink.co.uk/listinfo/maypole
>

=====
pjs

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