According to its founding light David Heinemeier Hansson, Ruby on Rails (RoR) is about 'taking the pain away and making you happy.' Hansson says he knowingly advises people, before they try Rails, to cut their teeth in web-development on the mainstream offerings first. 'Once you've tried developing a substantial application in Java or PHP or C# or whatever,' he says, 'the difference in Rails will be readily apparent. You gotta feel the hurt before you can appreciate the cure.'