Starting to move again

As most of you who have been on trips know sometimes you stop to see some local attractions like the world's largest ball of twine.  Well in my journey I too stopped off to see an attraction.  That attraction is the Python language.  After trying it out I decided that I would stick with Ruby on Rails. But while I was on that stop I got a used Mac from my father-in-law and I will now be using that as my dev box.  I have now figured out how to load Ruby on Rails on this machine.  Since it has OS X 10.4 (Tiger) it didn't come with Ruby loaded so I had to search for some help.  It's a good thing that Google knows everything :) So I have everything that I need to get back on the road and get this app going again.

Decision Made

When you go on any trip you generally want to choose 1 method of transportation to get you from point A to point B.  For my web app that method is the software that I am going to use is that method of transportation.  Up to now I have been using 2 methods, Ruby on Rails and WAMP.  I have decided that it is best to choose one and I have chosen to move forward with Ruby on Rails.  The reason for this is that I have had different people tell me that Ruby on Rails makes things easier and makes certain assumptions to help the developer keep his/her code clean.  For someone that does know what he is doing that is comforting.  I was also told that it is a language that was built by developers because they didn't like what some of the other languages made you do.  I don't really have any examples here but I believe these folks as they are very, very good developers. The final thing that really made me choose Ruby on Rails was my brother.  He told me that I should only use PHP (a big part of WAMP) if I am a masochistic.

There is also a lot of help out there for Ruby on Rails and now I need to get some books and start practicing and building this app!

Step 2: Installing the software...or so I thought

If creating this application where a trip from Chicago to New York I would be heading eastbound on I-90 at the Fullerton exit (in other words, not very far) and just when I think that I am going to pass the exit and keep going on my way a warning light comes on and I have to stop and get some help. 

This is what has happened so far in creating my application (which I don't have a name for so if you have any ideas let me know).  Since the database is created and ready to go, the next logical step is to install the software that I am going to try.  In my case, I am going to work with 2 different languages to see which one I like better as I mentioned in my previous post.  I thought that I had downloaded both Ruby on Rails and WAMP successfully but when I went to launch them, I could not.  I had no idea what to click on to start writing things.  So, as my wife and I say to each other when we need to look something up, to the Google machine! :)  And what a wonderful machine it is :)  I found the Rails Guide which walks you through the install and set up of Ruby on Rails.  I also found an article which walks you through the set up and install of WAMP.  As I was looking through those guides I found that there were things that needed to be set up, that were not (if you want to download these I highly suggest taking a look at these guides).  So with this new info in hand I am going to uninstall and attempt to reinstall Ruby and WAMP and hope to get back on the road!

First Step

Hello all out there in the Internet land.  This blog will chronicle my journey creating a web app for my church, United in Faith.  I invite all that follow this blog to post suggestions, comments, advice or whatever you feel like.  The other reason for creating the blog is the hope that it will keep me on track in completing this app.  Like all projects it is very easy to get off track, especially with a little one running around :)

Ok now on to the progress that has been made so far.  This application is going to be an app that will allow members of the United in Faith praise team, Voice of the Turtle , to log in and see what songs we have in our library, links to the YouTube videos, what type of music we have for the song (chord chart or lead sheet), what season it may go with and finally when we played the song last.  I think this will be a huge help to the band as we are always trying to remember what we have in the library and when we played them last.

So far I have created the database using SQL Server Express.  I know that might have been overkill but I am also trying studying to become a SQL Server Developer so using that will help me practice.  I am currently trying to decide what language to write the app in.  I am leaning toward Rudy on Rails but might also think about PHP or Pearl.  I will probably download them both and see which one I like better.

Finally, today I downloaded Ubuntu Server and will put that on an extra machine that I have.  I will do most of the developing on that box.  I just need to figure out how to build the server :)  but that is what Google is for :)

Thank you for reading and i look forward to your comments.