The neat thing about Rails is that going from zero to a running database-backed app is done in a ridiculously few number of keystrokes that invoke quite a bit of under-the-hood magic in terms of routing, form and view scaffolding, etc. Django is kind of similar, in that you don't need to write a ton of code to get a basic app in the browser, but it exposes a bit more of itself as you get going right away, and you need to work a bit connecting things together. As far as mature, large Django and Rails apps – the similarities outweigh the differences, in my opinion. I would recommend doing the basic Rails tutorial, it really doesn't take that much time.