Are web MVC frameworks easier to use with Dynamic Languages ?

Question

The reason I am asking this is due to my observation that frameworks like RoR and Django are two of the leading MVC frameworks out there which really have stirred up the community. I know there are MVC frameworks in Java world long before RoR or Django came out, but there wasnt so much excitement.

Are languages like Ruby / Python a better choice if you want to build an application using MVC pattern? If you are a .net developer and pretty well versed with Python/Ruby, do you see any advantages of building ASP.net MVC apps using IronPython / IronRuby ?

I am really looking forward for Visual Studio to support dynamic languages just the way it supports C#.

Answer 1

It be honest it is not really the best example to compare Java against RoR and Python. Because Java's implementation of MVC was on its Windows side development not the web. And JSP has never been a favorite of web developers, so it sort of started behind the pack to begin with.

But to answer your question. There is no reason not to use a static language such as C# or VB.NET to develop ASP.NET MVC. There really hasn't been a great deal of static languages that offer a really good implementation of MVC for the web, so that is probably why you see most of the development in RoR, Python, and PHP.

But if you want to see how quickly it is to change and roll out an MVC application developed in C#, you really don't have to look any farther than the site you are currently on. Jeff Atwood and team have done a great job, and they are constantly updating the architecture with out any problems.

So I would recommend you use C# with the ASP.NET MVC, and forget about IronPython for now, because the language hasn't had all the problems worked out yet.

Answer 2

I don't think there is that much of an advantage anymore.

I think all the good MVC frameworks exploit the "A" level features of the language / platform they are written on.

.NET now has so many features that allow it to be "flexible/dynamic" in nature but still be type-checked. I think .NET 4.0 just adds to that with dynamic keyword.

There are one or two videos of Anders talking about this online. One at the PDC where he discusses where C#4 and C#5 are headed. And one roundtable discussion I think on the MSDN site.