I'm going to be developing a container from scratch, meaning there isn't an existing social network website that I have that needs to implement the OpenSocial spec. Instead I'm creating one with the OpenSocial spec in mind.

I'm planning on creating the backend first, using a MVC model using some kind of framework and a MySQL database. I am going to be creating this first, and once done, I will implement the OpenSocial spec and write a few gadgets as the main content / application of the site.

Is this the way to go about creating an OpenSocial container? Or is there some other direction I need?

Also, what would be the most ideal framework to use in this case? I was thinking of Ruby on Rails, but it's difficult to scale, but easy to prototype. I've used Symfony before, but it's not nearly as easy and fast as RoR.