Hmm. It sounds like you're not keen on maintaining the generated code and you don't like having code generated for you that you can't maintain. Kind've a no-win scenario really.
But then, the answer is that the scaffold & generators in Rails are just shortcuts. They allow you to get a basic CRUD app up and running very, very quickly and yet still give you the opportunity to customize or even competely replace the generated code. After all, there's no reason you HAVE to use generators - you could just write everything by hand if you want to.
Oh, and if you're not happy with the generated code and you don't want to keep changing it every time you generate something new, take a look in the \templates directory under each generator and you can always change the code template if you like. Now that's more flexibility than you get in most code-generating IDEs.
In my experience, having an IT certification is hardly ever a bad thing - for two reasons.
Firstly, it shows that you're willing to learn and able to pass an exam (albeit an easy one sometimes) - but at least you're not sitting on your backside and waiting for work to come along, you're actively improving yourself. Looking at someones record of certification can often tell you whether they approach their personal development actively or passively.
Secondly, having a certification on your resume can get you past the initial sifting that many recruitment agencies carry out for their clients. In areas where there are many more applicants than jobs, not having a certification can exclude you immediately in the eyes of the agency, regardless of relevant experience.
Do the certificates mean anything? Sometimes. I've used them in the past for the purposes described above but, when I interview someone they must be able to talk about what they've done in the past - commercial or personal experimentation - in some detail and enthusiatically or as far as I'm concerned the certificate is a sham. I'd much rather hire someone who can talk for ages, draw diagrams and discuss problems they solved than someone who just flashes a pile of certificates.
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Hmm. It sounds like you're not keen on maintaining the generated code and you don't like having code generated for you that you can't maintain. Kind've a no-win scenario really. But then, the answer is that the scaffold & generators in Rails are just shortcuts. They allow you to get a basic CRUD app up and running very, very quickly and yet still give you the opportunity to customize or even competely replace the generated code. After all, there's no reason you HAVE to use generators - you could just write everything by hand if you want to. Oh, and if you're not happy with the generated code and you don't want to keep changing it every time you generate something new, take a look in the \templates directory under each generator and you can always change the code template if you like. Now that's more flexibility than you get in most code-generating IDEs.
In my experience, having an IT certification is hardly ever a bad thing - for two reasons.
Firstly, it shows that you're willing to learn and able to pass an exam (albeit an easy one sometimes) - but at least you're not sitting on your backside and waiting for work to come along, you're actively improving yourself. Looking at someones record of certification can often tell you whether they approach their personal development actively or passively.
Secondly, having a certification on your resume can get you past the initial sifting that many recruitment agencies carry out for their clients. In areas where there are many more applicants than jobs, not having a certification can exclude you immediately in the eyes of the agency, regardless of relevant experience.
Do the certificates mean anything? Sometimes. I've used them in the past for the purposes described above but, when I interview someone they must be able to talk about what they've done in the past - commercial or personal experimentation - in some detail and enthusiatically or as far as I'm concerned the certificate is a sham. I'd much rather hire someone who can talk for ages, draw diagrams and discuss problems they solved than someone who just flashes a pile of certificates.