Not having the time to code in Java as i once did, i thought that i decided that it was about time to have a go at a new language.  I selected Ruby and the Rails framework as i had enjoyed the debate i had at QCon and felt that it would help me understand how best to utilize this type of language and framework (  we already use Groovy which is similar  ).  After just a few hours of playing around i could see the draw and after only a few more i was sold.  It is truly liberating to be able to  create database models and code over these on the fly.  I know that there are similar tools in Java, .Net, PHP and others, but the way the whole Ruby on Rails package fits together is great.  Add to this the integration with the InteliJ IDE (my favourite) and you have a great environment and the ability to use JRuby and get all the Java integration as well; my Groovy colleague would argue ‘ why not just use Groovy on Grails‘ and I must say i don’t have the answers at present, but time will tell.