As part of a project I am replacing an MS Access database with another app that can be used from a web browser. Lots of tables with loads of fields and heaps of forms are involved, so I needed a nifty way to do it.

I chose Ruby on Rails and a wonderful gem/plugin called Netzke written by Sergei Kozlov. Rails is a great way to plumb a web page into a database, although it is annoyingly prone to change (just try running any example from a two year old text book, my old Rails books have been converted into gerbil bedding by my daughter).
Netzke blend the advantages of Rails with the loveliness of EXT JS. Now Rails is written in a language called Ruby and executed on the server while EXT JS is Javascript on the browser, so inventing an easy to use combination is a clever trick. Sergie Lozlov’s Netzke is of the most beautiful bits of computer science I have seen in a long time.
Sergie makes Ruby and Javascript tango together. Further more, he’s written some easy to read tutorials that help other people to do the same thing.