Advantages of Ruby on Rails for Your Business

The advantages of Ruby on Rails are apparent, considering it is a popular technology with both large businesses and startups. It used by Shopify, Airbnb, Goodreads, Hulu, and many other well-known companies.

Ruby on Rails remains a highly popular server-side web framework. In this article, we’ll outline why it might be suited to your project.

Introduction

Ruby on Rails (“RoR” or “Rails”) is an open-source web application development framework written in the Ruby programming language. It’s one of the most popular Ruby libraries and one of the top reasons developers choose to learn Ruby.

Modern web applications can be very complex with many layers. Rails makes web development easier, providing a pre-built structure for development and everything you need to build a web app.

Ruby was created in 1995, and is a dynamic, general-purpose, object-oriented scripting language. It helps to build high-quality, architecturally clean web apps with JavaScript, HTML and CSS files.

David Heinemeier Hansson extracted RoR from his work on Basecamp, which was a project management tool. He first released Rails as open source in 2004. However, he did not share commit rights to the project till 2005.

Let’s take a look at Ruby on Rails’ major advantages.

Major Advantages of Ruby on Rails

1. Model-View-Controller (MVC) Architecture

In this architecture, your web app will have three interconnected layers: the model, the view and the controller.

The components handle specific development aspects of your app. Model view controller architecture is popularly used for industry-standard web development framework. It results in extensible and scalable projects.

• Model houses codes to work on architectural data.

• Centralizes business logic of app.

• Controller communicates with views and models.

2. Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)

This principle involves each piece of knowledge having a single, authoritative and unambiguous representation in a system. It was originally formulated by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt in The Pragmatic Programmer.

This helps to reduce repetition of information in a system. Subsequently, it minimizes errors in the development cycle.

3. Simplicity

Ruby on Rails contains simple, readable syntax, which allows developers to do more with less code.

• This readability makes RoR virtually self-documenting. Developers do not have to write out help text or comments.

• Managers and programmers can view each other’s code and quickly see what’s happening in the project.

• Built-in solutions to common web development problems.

• Primary benefits include modules, generators and gems (libraries for adding features) for almost any function

• Easy to find an expert in the large Ruby community

4. Faster Development

With RoR, web development time can be cut down to up to 50%. At times, you can even have a minimum viable product (MVP) ready within hours. Web development is mainly faster because of:

• Modular design

• Object orientation

• Fewer lines of code

• Extensive open-source code

• Broad range of plugin solutions

• Option of integrated testing in coding process

5. Cost Effective

One of the biggest advantages of Ruby on Rails is that it is free to use by both corporations and individuals.

• Avoid licensing costs of conventional languages, particularly if required on various devices more than one location.

• RoR can run on free open-source Linux.

• It also works well with several free databases and web servers.

• Many of the libraries are free.

• Since changes are accommodated easily, you save money and time.

6. Versatile and Suitable for Many Industries

Ruby on Rails covers both front and backend design, and is a full-stack framework. While Ruby’s community used to focus on web development, it has over the years grown more diverse.

RoR programming is now used for mobile application development, content management systems, eCommerce, FinTech, advertising, and more. It has even been used for 3D models with SketchUp and simulations at NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Having said that, the success of these projects will depend on the skill and experience of the Ruby on Rails developer.

• Since the rails framework is flexible, it allows you to adapt websites to different updates.

• It allows you to remove or redefine elements.

Ruby on Rail’s flexibility give web app developers many opportunities to find the best solution for your project.

7. Excellent Quality

The Minitest tool, which is built into the RoR core, is a comprehensive suite that offers various testing features, such as test benchmarking, mocking and expectation syntax.

Furthermore, RoR encourages behavior-driven development (BDD) and test driven development (TDD) approaches. This also helps to cut development costs.

When to Use Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is far from the only technology you can use for web development and app development. We’ve made a panoramic comparison of open source CMS platforms to help you decide which is the best one for you.

Having said that, the advantages of Ruby on Rails will truly shine if you:

• Have a limited budget

• Are handling complex business logic

• Want to quickly deliver a web app

Conclusion

Whether you are a Fortune company or a funded startup, the right Ruby on Rails developer can work wonders for you.

BluEnt offers Ruby on Rails services for retail companies, energy companies, eCommerce companies, consulting firms, and more. Check out our case studies to see how we’ve helped other businesses like yours.

Ready to take your business to new heights with a dedicated Ruby on Rails company? Contact us now!

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