Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » IBM mashup maker uses Ruby on Rails

December 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

IBM mashup maker uses Ruby on Rails

TAGS: Application Development

IBM has released IBM Sharable Code, an online development platform for the Ruby on Rails Web framework, the company said on Wednesday.

Sharable Code and another new tool, Web Highlights, are free services for entry-level developers and users to utilize Web 2.0 resources, IBM said. Sharable Code is a mashup maker leveraging Ruby on Rails. Web Highlights, for highlighting content on the Web, was built with Sharable Code. Both Sharable Code and Web Highlights are available on IBM's alphaWorks site.

Geared toward Web application developers, Sharable Code offers scaffolding, or a skeleton framework, for building situational applications that can be quickly updated or changed, IBM said. These applications also can be downloaded onto a desktop or local database.

Situational applications such as one to manage calendars can be built, aggregating events from sources such as Facebook and RSS feeds. A news item aggregator also could be developed, with the gathered information presented on a single Web page.

With Sharable Code, a domain-specific language (DSL) is used to represent a mashup and its design. This DSL then is converted into a Ruby on Rails application. Sharable Code can be used with Ruby on Rails 1.4.5 or above, according to IBM. Ruby on Rails 2.0 was released last Friday.

Web Highlights, meanwhile, makes it easier to share relevant information. It simplifies the tasks of using Web 2.0 social tools, such as digg, IBM said. A user, for example, could post a news article to the Web Highlights Web page and highlight sections he wants everyone to read.

Posted by Paul Krill on December 12, 2007 03:14 PM

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