ROR highlights the point that automated code generation is very useful for saving development time.[1] For example, generators are something that is functionally inbetween the dynamic ad_form and copy/pasting manually generated forms.
Couldn't OpenACS extend code generation similarly? I believe the APM does a little of that. Generating pages from code seems pretty straight forward.
OpenACS has a package in development for converting from UML to code[2][3]. It would be nice to have the system build the basics and framework for a new package from filling out a form or two. It might actually help developers to standardize some of the best practices by codifying them. Maybe packages could be recompiled with revised code libraries to save time in the update process. More detailed discussion here: https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=239510
1 http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/UnderstandingGenerators
2 https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=187027
3 https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=192201
