Rapid development tools like Ruby on Rails are enabling development teams to crank out code at phenomenal speeds these days. Case in point: iotum itself. We had built the iotum Relevance Engine using Python, which had been a tremendous productivity improvement over prior generations of tools. When it came time to build our Facebook FREE Conference Call application, the team suggested Ruby on Rails. The entire application was built in record speed, and we are now able to crank out significant improvements on a bi-weekly schedule in response to user requests.
The fevered pace of development in the Facebook community gives one the sense that most of the Facebook development community has adopted these tools. Of course, rapid development does have pitfalls. You have to pay attention to quality all the time. Yesterday I received an invitation to try an application on Facebook that had me stymied during the install process when I reached this screen:
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
