Merb

Merb

Original author(s)	Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Developer(s)	Yehuda Katz
Stable release	0.9.9
Repository	github.com/merb/merb
Operating system	Cross-platform
Available in	Ruby
Type	Web application framework
License	MIT License
Website	http://www.merbivore.com

Merb is a Model View Controller web framework written in Ruby. Merb adopts an approach that focuses on essential core functionality, leaving most functionality to plugins.

Overview

Merb allows for developer preference in choice of ORM (ActiveRecord, Datamapper, and Sequel are supported), Javascript library, and template language (Support for HAML is included in addition to eRuby).

Starting February 2008, Merb underwent a large rewrite, jumping from version 0.5 to 0.9. Core framework functionality was modularized into "merb-core", and all extra functionality (e.g. various templating language plugins) inside a "merb-more" and "merb-plugins" components. One can still create simple web applications with merb-core alone, similar to the Camping microframework.

0.9 is still considered a development release, but the API is already very close to stable.

Merb 1.0RC was announced during the MerbCamp[1] October 11, 2008 in San Diego, CA.

Merb was highly influenced by Rails, and it can also be used to write sophisticated applications or REST Web services. Merb being more flexible and faster [2] than Rails, it's supposed to be the "smart" choice for people having to deal with legacy applications/databases and/or huge traffic.

External links

• Merbivore - Official Merb Site
• Merb's official Blog
• Latest Merb Core API Documentation
• News, projects and tutorials devoted to the Merb web framework
• official wiki for the Merb
• Yehuda Katz's blog (Merb's lead developer)
• Ezra Zygmuntowicz's blog (creator of Merb)
• The Merbist, Merb news & tutorials
• Merb podcasts, screencasts, tutorials and news
• MerbCamp - First official gathering of Merb developers