Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a framework that was created by the Ruby language community in 2005, soon after becoming the go-to framework for web development. After being shared with the open-source market, RoR grew into a more advanced, extensible, and multi-purpose framework. These advancements eventually put Ruby on Rails on the worldwide development radar to make it one of the most popular server-side web frameworks.

Ruby is a flexible general-purpose language that is easy to learn, making it a great choice for startups - but also big players like Airbnb, Basecamp, Kickstarter, and Shopify.

Today we answer the question - why is RoR so popular and what are the advantages of adopting it for your next software development project?

Benefits of Ruby on Rails

Save money and time

Ruby on Rails provides a lean codebase with fewer code lines which allows for faster writing and rendering. Moreover, the framework includes a wide variety of plugins and modules that are easy to apply and use. Developers share that using RoR’s plugins and modules shortens the development cycle by 30-40% which is a great advantage, especially for startup companies.

With fewer code lines to write and developers to hire, companies can save a good portion of the budget. This is why RoR is a particularly popular technology for lean businesses as it allows industry-standard quality with a smaller budget.

Continuous innovation

RoR’s flexibility always leaves more room for innovation and updates. Even if you have not implemented some features in the first development cycle, the modules will help you effortlessly add or remove certain functionalities in future releases. Each part of the software can be modified and expanded to make your application more advanced and user-friendly.

Due to a large and active community, the framework is continuously extended with “gems” - RoR libraries. With over 160,000 gems available, RoR offers a huge selection of various libraries to quickly add special features like payment authentication. Finally, the expressiveness and flexibility of RoR facilitates creative problem solving and allows developers to build tailored solutions for their clients.

Scales up and down easily

Even though up until recently Ruby on Rails was notoriously known for its lack of scalability, especially when compared to Java, the release of Rails 6 changed it all. Scalability is a highly important trait of a framework as it is responsible for handling heavy loads and scaling the system up and down when necessary.

Although your framework choice is not going to single-handedly make the scalability good or bad, having a scalable technology is the first step. You should consider, among other aspects, your deployment strategy as well as database and application architecture.

Ensures safety

The importance of cybersecurity measures cannot be overestimated. With evolving technologies, hacking excellence and precision are also picking up the pace. Newer and more advanced ways of penetrating systems and stealing personal data require better security measures and continuous monitoring.

RoR’s developer community spent a great deal of their time working on making the framework as secure as possible. For example, Ruby on Rails contains a data encryption feature to ensure safe transactions as well as tools that prevent SQL injections, XSS attacks, and other forms of cyberthreats.

Support from a huge community

We have already mentioned the large community of contributors that extend the gem collection, develop new plugins and modules, share their hacks on tech platforms like GitHub, answer questions about complicated issues, etc. On top of that, RoR’s fanbase organizes hackathons, events for collaborative software creation, workshops, conferences, and other tech events.

The collective mind of this thriving community makes RoR forward-thinking and ever-growing. Being a part of this community, you will get access to a large pool of professional developers, tons of helpful documentation about the technology as well a shared knowledge base.

Is Ruby on Rails the right technology for your project?

RoR is highly versatile and can be used for a multitude of various projects and types of applications such as eCommerce, business, social networks, dating platforms, SaaS solutions, etc. Even the size of the company does not matter as RoR is utilized by startups as well as large organizations like Hulu.

If you are still on the fence about whether Ruby is a good choice for your business, do not hesitate to ask for help. Our software development professionals at CodeFirst are ready to answer all of your questions about RoR, its benefits and its pitfalls, as well as give you a free consultation about your project.