ruby - What are the advantages of using Rails for a GIS/mapping application?

I've heard some good things about Rails, but I don't know much about it yet. There are only a few questions about Rails on GIS.SE (and there's not even a Rails tag).

1. 
   

   Is it worthwhile to learn about Rails, from a GIS professional's perspective? (eg, what advantages does Rails give when building a website containing GIS functionality, compared to not using Rails?)

   
   


2. 
   

   Are there any examples of good GIS/mapping websites built on Rails?

   
   

(I don't have any specific requirements in mind yet - I just want to know whether to invest time in learning Rails.)

Answer

1. Probably not.


2. None stand out.

Your time would be much better spent learning Django/GeoDjango. Django is similar to Rails in that it's a web application framework. It uses Python rather than Ruby. The geospatial functionality is much more mature than GeoRuby.

Ruby/Rails is a great platform to develop on but the spatial functionality isn't on par with Django.