Rails 3.0.9 or 3.1.0 for a project starting today?

Question

To go to Rails 3.1 or not to go to Rails 3.1, that is the question.

I know that the new version has some great features e.g. asset pipeline, but are third-party gems ready for the latest version - does 3.1 cause incompatibilities with existing gems for Rails 3.0?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the Rails 3.1 now?

Answer 1

As a common rule, you should always start with the latest version. If you start with an old version, you are already starting with an additional cost. The cost of writing code that will probably need to be revised.

In this case, the asset feature is a major change. If you start building your Rails app in the 3.0 way, you will need to move several assets in the future.

As long as you don't have the strict requirement to use a specific Gem, go ahead with 3.1. Also, 3.1 is not very different compared with 3.0 in terms of dependencies. It is not worth to stay with 3.0 just because "a gem might be not compatible". There will always be incompatible or outdated gems.