I know, I know. I said the E word. But bear with me. I’m working with some code right now that, while well-written for the most part, still is written in ASP.NET, and makes me wonder if its levels of intricacies can be managed in Rails. Some of the particular obstacles that would require tackling are:

• A modular architecture. We provide our product in separate pieces, but they all use the same basic data model on the backend. Having a nice, clean way to install new modules for a client on a dime, and have it integrate with the rest of the web application, would be wonderful. Logins would have to across modules. All workable, but difficult. Is a plugin the best way to modularize part of a Rails application? Is a gem?

• Batch data insertion. Our clients receive products in bulk, and a form that allows them to insert multiple rows at once, on one web form, while still being RESTFUL, sounds complicated. I’m sure it’s possible, but I’d have to think through it to make sure.

• Integration with the desktop. Some of our web application’s functionality is relegated to the desktop, where GUI applications keep track of things for us. This is looking more and more possible with Ruby and QT bindings.

So those are my thoughts.

EDIT: And some more thoughts.

• Auditing. Being able to see every single change that anybody made to an some database objects is an absolute must. Full and complete accounting practices should be available without any extra work on the programmer’s part.

• Reports. Right now I think we have about 84 separate Crystal Reports files. I’ve been looking at Ruport but it’s hard to tell whether or not it would fit all of our needs.