What is ruby on rails?
Ruby on Rails also known as RAILS is an open-source server-side web application development framework that is written in Ruby, an object-oriented programming language similar to Perl and Python. It is considered one of the most popular Ruby libraries developed by David Heinemeier Hansson under the MIT license. Ruby on Rails uses Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern that separates a web application code into three interconnected parts:
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The Model holds the data structure of the application
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View represents the visual part of the application
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The Controller contains the business logic of the application that connects the data to the View
Rails can run on most of the web servers that support CGI. It uses web standards like XML and JSON to transfer the data and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the user interface. Rails is made of several components apart from Ruby like:
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Action pack, a manager of controller and view functions
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Rapid Prototyping, using the Rails Ajax helpers
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Web Services
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Active record, an object-relational mapping layer
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Action Mailer, hooks into the Mail observer and interceptor methods
Why choose ruby on rails as your web app development framework?
Rails has been used to develop many types of web applications that spans both the frontend and the backend. The View handles the front-end by generating the web pages seen on the browser, whereas, the model and controller handle the backend of the application.
It uses Metaprogramming techniques to write program codes
It allows the faster launch of web application
It helps in maintaining and avoiding problems with migration
Using Ruby on Rails makes the application faster and safer
It is cost-effective which will save you a lot of money
With the latest functionalities, it is easy to update the application
Ruby on Rails applications are used in various areas of web development where:
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A project has heavy traffic
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A long-term project which needs large transformation and updates
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A project that requires a wide range of complex functionalities
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Develop a minimum viable product (MVP) or short prototype
Optimized functionalities of ruby on rails to make development easy
Model View Controller Architecture
Ruby on Rails uses MVC architecture which contains three components- model, view, and controller. MVC is generally used for developing user interfaces that divide the data into these three interconnected components so that it can separate the internal representation of the information from the way it presents to and get from the user.
MetaProgramming
Metaprogramming is a technique by which you can write a code in such a way that writes code by itself dynamically during runtime. This means you can define classes and methods during runtime. Ruby on Rails supports MetaProgramming.
Convention over Configuration (CoC)
Rails uses the dynamism of Ruby language that utilizes a set of conventions to ease up the development process. It is a software design paradigm used by frameworks to decrease the number of decisions that a developer is required to make without losing flexibility and don’t repeat yourself (DRY) principles.
Scaffolding
This feature allows the developers to define how the application database works. The framework automatically generates the required program code according to the given definition from the application database. The scaffolding technique creates interfaces automatically.
Built-in Testing
Rails provided skeleton test codes while developers are creating their controllers and models. By testing, you can ensure your code adheres to the desired functionality even after major code refactoring. Good testing reduces the number of bugs, improves the quality of the software, and makes our work easier in the long run.
Active Records
Ruby on Rails provides active records which is a powerful library that allows the developer to design the database interactive queries.
Reliable and effective features of ruby on rails
- Ruby on Rails has high productivity which means it is incredibly fast when compared to other frameworks
- It has unique tooling capabilities that allow it to deliver more features in less time
- The code quality of Ruby is significantly higher than NodeJS and PHP equivalents
- Ruby on Rails is a large community. The community and framework pride themselves on developer experience, sensible abstractions, and empowering individual developers to accomplish a lot with Rails.
- Rails has third-party gems or modules just for anything and everything