CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-railsjruby
Kamilski81
Kamilski81

Reputation: 15117

Is it a good idea integrating ruby frontend with java backend for rules-engine based software?

I am writing an application where the webapp will be rails and it will allow a user to input rules/ruby-logic and save them to the database. Later on, Java will come along and grab these rules (if/else/elseif) and will execute them via jruby engine. I am wondering of the negatives and possible side-effects of this? And having two languages here?

I want to do rails front-end because the available plugins, and speed of development of webapps. For example, groovy doesnt have as many plugins and i believe that it's much slower in development.

Am I missing anything, or possible logic that may be hurtful in the future if I choose this solution?

In addition I think since ruby is dynamic it will be easier for the user to input rules via a 'ruby' syntax instead of another third-party library like bean shell.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 697

Answers (1)

njorden
njorden

Reputation: 2606

I feel like most complex applications end up needing several languages eventually, usually interfacing through the DB as you're planning. I'm not sure what constraint leads to you Java on backend rather than ruby (guessing legacy or performance), but if that's a requirement then your plan sounds reasonable.

As far as negatives/side-effects, Jruby seems to lag a bit behind the latest ruby, but that's not generally a big deal as long as you match versions for the UI & backend. I can't think of anything that would be harmful in this off the top of my head, but the devil is always in the details ;-)

Upvotes: 1

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