How Not to Choose a Web Framework (And Django Sucks!)
A journalism professor friend of mine wanted to start teaching her students to program using a web framework, and quickly narrowed her options to the two obvious choices: Rails and Django. Faced with two fairly similar, can't-go-wrong options, she turned to her technical friends, and asked a simple question: Which should she choose?
Anyone who's spent any time at all in the company of nerds (present company included) knows what happened. For those who have not, let's put it this way: she might have gotten less vitriolic, less doctrinaire, less jingoistic responses had she asked about Middle East peace or global warming.
It's a phenomenon deeply ingrained in the technology world -- the open source community especially. And one that comes as a surprise to journalists as they edge closer to this realm themselves. People who are otherwise rational, sane and logical about most everything become frothing-at-the-mouth lunatics when someone disses their technology of choice.
Don't believe me? Drop in to a BSD users' group some night and start talking about how awesome Ubuntu is. The next programmer you see hacking in vi, just walk over and casually ask what they think of emacs. See that dude over there futzing with The Gimp? Go tell him how much better Photoshop is and see what happens.
Or just go to Google and type in any technology followed by "sucks" and see what comes back. Some suggestions to get you started: "javascript sucks", ".net sucks", "emacs sucks", "php sucks" and especially "java sucks". You'd think these people had better things to do -- like, work. But it's a truism in the tech community: the lower the stakes, the higher the heat.
The same is true of Rails and Django, though I have to say I think the Django folks are way more obsessed with Rails than vice-versa. The real Rails-driven vitriol seems to be directed more at Java or .Net than Django.
And, of course, there in that last paragraph is all the proof you need of my larger point. Did you catch it? First, I casually implied that the Rails users are more mature than those who use Django (which, they are). And then I contrasted Rails with Java and .Net, thereby subtly suggested that Rails is ready to rumble with the big boys and Django is not (duh!).
That's why I'll offer this suggestion to anyone facing the same dilemma as my friend: Go ahead and ask your techy friends what they think, but take everything they say with a massive grain of salt. Listen, absorb, take it all in. But treat them like a prosecutor treats a hostile witness: take nothing at face value.
When they say "Rails is hype" or "Django is more difficult to teach," ask them why? And keep asking until you get an answer that makes sense. And then go confirm it yourself, like any good journalist.
To borrow a phrase, if your mom tells you "I love you. Oh, and Django sucks!", confirm it.
