Numerous major companies rely on the unique advantages that web development using Ruby on Rails has to offer. Some prominent examples (whose websites you’ve likely used recently) include:

  • Airbnb
  • Fiverr
  • Groupon
  • Hulu
  • Kickstarter
  • Shopify
  • SlideShare
  • Twitter

You may have noticed that the companies listed above have a major factor in common: they all depend completely on their online presence for the function of their business models and product delivery to consumers. And, many of these examples, especially Hulu, Shopify, and Twitter are sites that regularly experience high Internet traffic.

So, what does Ruby on Rails have to offer when it comes to web development. After all, there must be something that makes it so attractive that companies like these entrust their business success and customer experience.

What is Ruby on Rails?

When talking about website development, Ruby on Rails has gained traction as an important tool, gaining ground more traditional coding languages. But unlike JavaScript, CSS, or HTML5, Ruby on Rails is not considered a programming language. 

Instead, Ruby on Rails is what’s known as a web development framework. The actual programming language, Ruby, is operated inside the Rails software library.

If you have dabbled in coding for web development using other programming languages, you likely have done something called “client-side scripting.” When doing so, the commands and settings that you code into your website are run on the “client-side” (aka the browser) of each person accessing and loading your website.

In contrast, websites developed using Ruby on Rails have server-side scripting, which means that each time a ROR-developed website loads, it can return a different version of the website depending on who is visiting the website.

As you can likely imagine, server-side web development can inherently improve the responsiveness of your website. Unlike in a static, client-side scripted website, sites using Ruby on Rails prevent the loading of unnecessary elements and code that specific users don’t need to see or use.

What Benefits Does Ruby on Rails Web Development Offer?

While the fact that Ruby on Rails uses server-side scripting offers advantages, a lot of the appeal of Ruby on Rails web development is that the Ruby programming language stands out quite a bit from the alternatives.

One of the most common languages used for web development languages is JavaScript. In comparison to Ruby, more traditional languages like JavaScript and Python have very regimented approaches to programming, generally offering a single “correct” way to accomplish a task.

In contrast, Ruby, which was created in 2005, has been established around a culture of programmers that value innovation and progress over strict rule-following. As a result, features are continually being released for the open-source Ruby framework, which allows much faster improvements to the web development process.

That characteristic makes using Ruby on Rails perfect for web applications, especially since the structured framework allows developers to use simpler code. So, when users have feedback to improve a website or there’s a bug that needs to be addressed, ROR-developed websites can potentially be updated and improved faster, providing a higher quality visitor experience.