Ministry of Social Development
Developer Training & Application Development
AbleTech’s contribution at the Ministry of Social Development was twofold – to train Java developers in the use of Ruby on Rails, and to contribute to the redevelopment of an existing application using these new technologies.
Ruby on Rails training
AbleTech were asked to contribute by peer programming with an experienced Java developer. Although AbleTech was aware of Peer Programming, this was the first time AbleTech had actually participated in it. They found it to be a very effective way of transferring the required Ruby on Rails knowledge. Within a week, although starting with almost zero experience with Ruby on Rails, the Java developer was contributing positively. By week three, the developer was at a stage where he could independently build his own components.
AbleTech continued to peer-program with this developer for five months. By the end of this period, he was trained to a sufficient level that he could lead his own project. This has been an approach AbleTech has taken now with a number of other MSD developers being trained in Ruby on Rails.
Development
AbleTech lead a project to replace an existing Java based application with a Ruby on Rails replacement. Interesting aspects to this application include:
- Deployed on top of JRuby
- Integrated with corporate LDAP for authentication and authorisation
- Complex workflow between front and back office
- Used at all MSD service centres
- Export reports to Microsoft Excel
AbleTech continue to work with MSD in ongoing projects.