Ruby on Rails also known as Rails is a server-side web application development framework that is written in the Ruby programming language, and it is developed by David Heinemeier Hansson under the MIT License. It supports MVC(model-view-controller) architecture that provides a default structure for databases, web pages, and web services, it also uses web standards like JSON or XML for transferring data and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the user interface. It emphasizes the use of other well-known software engineering patterns and paradigms like:

1. Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY): It is a principle of software development to reduce the repetition of information or codes.
2. Convention Over Configuration (CoC): It provides many opinions on the best way to do many things in a web application.

Features of Ruby on Rails

Some key features of Ruby on Rails include:

1. MVC Architecture

MVC stands for Model-View-Controller. It’s a way of organizing the code in a web application to make it easier to understand and maintain.

1. Model: The Model represents the data of your application and the logic for interacting with that data. Think of it as the part of your application that deals with the database. For example, if you have a blog application, the Model would handle things like saving and retrieving blog posts from the database.
2. View: The View is what the user sees and interacts with. It’s responsible for presenting data to the user in a user-friendly way. In a web application, the View is usually HTML with embedded Ruby code (ERB) that displays dynamic content. Continuing with the blog example, the View would be the actual web page that shows the blog post to the user.
3. Controller: The Controller is like the middleman between the Model and the View. It handles user requests, processes input data, and decides what data to show in the View. It’s the traffic cop of your application, directing requests to the appropriate parts. For example, when a user requests to view a blog post, the Controller would fetch the data from the Model and passes it to the View to be displayed.

2. Budget-friendly

Ruby on Rails is an open-source framework, meaning it’s freely available for anyone to use and modify. There are no licensing fees associated with using Rails, making it an economical choice for startups, small businesses, and individual developers.

3. Easy to Learn

The simple English-like syntax in the Ruby language makes it easier for developers to understand and write code, making it simpler to read Rails code compared to other programming languages.

• This also allows developers to save time by not having to rewrite code libraries from scratch.
• Ruby on Rails for web development is a valuable tool for streamlining the development process and creating successful applications.
• Rails comes with easy-to-understand guides and tutorials that explain how to use the framework step by step.
• These guides break down complex concepts into simple explanations, making it easy for beginners to follow along and build their first web applications.

4. Security Feature

Ruby on Rails provides robust security features to protect against common web application attacks, making it a top choice for Rails Programmers. RoR has built-in security measures to defend against cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF), ensuring that web applications built with RoR are secure and protect sensitive user data.

• This makes Ruby on Rails a reliable option for Rails Programmers who want to create secure and safe web applications for their clients.
• By incorporating robust security features into the development process, Rails programmers can build trustworthy and secure web applications with confidence.

5. Assets Pipeline

The Asset Pipeline is a feature in Ruby on Rails that helps you manage and optimize your application’s assets such as JavaScript files, CSS stylesheets, and images.

• It combines various techniques like concatenation, minification, compression, and fingerprinting to improve the performance of your web application.
• In simple terms, the Asset Pipeline takes your application’s assets, optimizes them for better performance, and serves them to the user in the most efficient way possible.

6. Built-in Testing Support

In Ruby on Rails, testing is an essential part of the development process to ensure that your application functions correctly and reliably. Rails provides built-in support for testing through various frameworks and tools. The primary testing frameworks in Rails are:

7. Minitest

Minitest is a lightweight testing framework that comes bundled with Ruby. It’s the default testing framework in Rails, offering a simple syntax for writing tests.

8. RSpec

RSpec is an alternative testing framework popular among Rails developers. It provides a more expressive syntax compared to Minitest and allows for behavior-driven development (BDD) style testing.

9. Documentation

Ruby on Rails has vast documentation available, making it easy for a dedicated RoR developer to learn and understand the development process.

• There are plenty of online tutorials and classes, as well as a site dedicated to RoR frameworks and processes.
• The site’s manuals are written by experts in the script and framework, making it easier for RoR developers to access the information and learn the methods for developing web-oriented applications.
• With the open-source nature of Ruby on Rails, developers have a wealth of resources available to them, making it a valuable tool for creating successful web applications.

10. Internationalization (I18n) and Localization (L10n)

Rails provides built-in support for internationalization and localization, allowing developers to easily translate and localize their applications for different languages and regions. This helps make applications more accessible to global audiences and improves user experience. For that reason the Rails I18n API focuses on:

• Providing support for English and similar languages out of the box.
• Making it easy to customize and extend everything for other languages.

11. Database Support

Ruby on Rails offers dynamic database support, enabling developers to choose from multiple databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. This flexibility allows top ruby on rails developers to pick the database that suits their needs and easily switches between them if necessary.