Ruby on Rails: outdated or still relevant?

Ruby on Rails (RoR) is an open source framework for web applications developed in Ruby. Since its entry on the scene in 2005 it has managed to revolutionize the world of developers, experiencing a real golden season.

Its particular success is due to the fact that it made it possible to build complex web applications faster than any other framework of its time. Also, among the many frameworks that came out later (mostly imitating it), Rails continued to be the fastest and most innovative.

However, many are convinced that Rails' greatest success is over and attribute this decline in popularity to:

• Slow performance: slow performance is often caused by inexperienced developers. Lack of experience can lead to poor coding choices, resulting in a drop in performance.
• Scalability Issues: they are not necessarily attributable to the framework itself, as it is necessary to take into account the correct configuration of all the elements that make up an architecture and which must be performed, thus not focusing only on the backend app.
• Excessive maturity: those who criticize the maturity of the framework underline its boring, forgetting, however, that maturity is synonymous with stability and a more refined code.
• Limitations of the Ruby language: over the years Ruby has remained linked to the evolution of Rails and therefore of web applications, not finding other market niches.

There has even been talk of Rails' death, but is this really the case? Apparently not and we explain it to you in this article.

 

What makes Ruby on Rails special?

Ruby on Rails is a simple but powerful framework. Here are two aspects that distinguish it:

• Rubygems: these are plugins that simplify the application development process as they do not need to program each function allowing a considerable saving of time. Over the years, an almost complete park of gems has been developed to meet any developer need.
• Architettura Model-View-Controller (MVC): this architecture allows the application blocks to be arranged appropriately, facilitating maintenance and at the same time constitutes the most simplified visual representation of data and code.

Why use Ruby on Rails?

Here are a number of benefits for those who use RoR:

• Agile methodology: Ruby on Rails is based on an agile development model that allows you to create your application in short cycles of interaction. This entails rapid times for obtaining a prototype to be tested and launched on the market.
• Coding with ease: thanks to the use of Ruby, a language with an easy to read and write syntax, coding in RoR is particularly pleasant and efficient.
• Rapid MVP development: development time can be reduced by up to 25-40%, making it possible to build an MVP in a couple of weeks.
• Use for different contexts: RoR is not limited to just one specific industry, but can very well respond to the needs of different industries. Healthcare, finance, tourism and social media are just some examples of possible applications.
• Flexibility: Ruby on Rails can be used to create monolithic web applications, APIs or microservices. RoR goes well with React, Vue and any type of relational and document database, such as PostgreSQL and MongoDB.

 

By now it seems quite obvious that Ruby on Rails is far from dead, on the contrary, it is getting better and better with each release. After nearly 15 years, it's a really mature and reliable framework. We know this because we have been working with RoR for many years. If you want a web application for your startup, small business or company, we can help you build it with Ruby on Rails, because it is the perfect web development framework. Thanks to the tools and gems available, Ror allows us to develop applications that are both scalable, but also dynamic and engaging. Furthermore, we use RoR to create e-commerce, management and CMS platforms.

Contact us to receive advice from our Ruby on Rails developers who have managed numerous projects with this framework, from web application development to microservices and API development.

Also contact us if you wish to maintain and evolve an existing Ruby on Rails application.