Ruby vs Ruby on Rails: What’s the Distinction?

by | Nov 15, 2023 | Etcetera | 0 comments

Many people conflate Ruby and Ruby on Rails. As a result, without reference to numerous foremost permutations, their an identical names and shared basis continue to confuse — specifically among newer developers.

This text will clear up that confusion, exploring their connected history and providing a primer on while you would perhaps code with Ruby or transfer instantly to building with Ruby on Rails.

From Ruby to Rails

So, how is Ruby different from Ruby on Rails?

Ruby is a widely used open-source, object-oriented, general-purpose scripting language built on the C programming language. It’s a cross-platform language supported on House home windows, macOS, and Linux. Ruby was designed with simplicity and developer enjoyment since the core focus and is trendy in web application construction.

Ruby on Rails, each and every so incessantly referred to as simply “Rails,” is an open-source web construction framework in step with the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern. You utilize Rails to extend database-driven web applications, and it uses the Ruby language.

Let’s dig somewhat of deeper into each and every.

What Is Ruby?

Ruby was created in 1993 by means of the Jap device programmer Yukihiro Matsumoto, incessantly known as Matz. The main mannequin of Ruby, Ruby 0.95, was introduced on Dec. 21, 1995.

Ruby, like Perl and Python, is a high-level interpreted programming language designed for programmer productivity. Matz created Ruby as an object-oriented language, like Ada, so it strikes a really perfect stability between potency and simplicity.

In line with Matz, his guiding regulations when rising Ruby had been to create a programming language that he beloved coding in, that was fun for various developers to use, and that limited the amount of effort required in programming.

During the last decade, Ruby has constantly ranked as one of the most fashionable programming languages. What attracts many developers to Ruby is its simplicity and coffee barrier to get entry to for inexperienced persons.

Permit us to discuss a couple of of Ruby’s crucial choices.

Versatile Programming Language

Ruby is thought of as a herbal object-oriented language. The whole thing in Ruby is an object. Even primitive wisdom types like integers have methods, instance variables, and fortify way chaining.

For example, you’ll use two different methods on an integer using the dot notation to hunt out completely the price and raise it to the facility of three, all in one line. Take a look at the code beneath. Proper right here, abs is used to hunt out completely the price of -3, and pow(3) raises completely the price of -3 to the facility of 3.

value = -3.abs.pow(3)

Ruby is a general-purpose programming language that developers can use to create quite a lot of varieties of applications. It moreover is helping the functional programming way, where strategies are a set of instructions grouped into procedures an just like functions.

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Libraries

Ruby provides quite a lot of built-in libraries for developers. It moreover provides a package deal deal manager referred to as RubyGems with numerous techniques, referred to as gems, created by means of other developers all through the Ruby workforce. The ones gems can assemble on or trade the options and functionalities of present Ruby applications.

Every gem accommodates code and corresponding testing equipment, documentation, and a gemspec — a report containing information about the gem. The gemspec choices the gem determine, description, and any dependencies it requires.

For example, consider the most popular k8s-client gem. Ruby developers can add this gem to their application, enabling get admission to to the Kubernetes client library.

There are also gems for specific use cases, like nytimes_top_stories. For the reason that determine implies, you’ll incorporate this gem into your app to pull recent headlines from the New York Events.

Uses for Ruby

One of the vital most no longer strange uses for Ruby are web construction, static internet web site generators (front-end construction), server-side applications, DevOps, automation, command-line equipment, and data processing applications.

Some examples include:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ruby

Ruby provides many benefits over other programming languages. It moreover comes with a few drawbacks. The lists beneath highlight a couple of of Ruby’s advantages (and downsides). Believe the ones problems when deciding whether or not or no longer Ruby is right in your use case or whether or not or no longer you’d as a substitute use a language like Python or C#.

Pros

  • Easy to use and provides out-of-the-box choices for construction.
  • A lot of third-party libraries developed by means of a nice workforce of Ruby developers.
  • Designed to increase productivity and cut back art work — so it boasts sooner construction events than other languages.

Cons

  • Potency will also be sluggish as a result of over the top memory consumption and inefficient garbage collection.
  • A general-purpose language alternatively additional suited for web construction — it fares badly in several areas like desktop construction.
  • However spotted as a niche language without reference to having been developed such a lot as it was offered. As a result of this, it does now not attract as many developers as its counterparts, like Python.

What Is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails is amongst the freshest frameworks for growing web applications with Ruby and is in an instant available beneath the MIT License. It’s moreover one of the vital essential no longer strange reasons developers learn Ruby. As a framework, Ruby on Rails simplifies the arrival of web applications by means of providing a pre-built building and all of the parts needed to assemble a web application, so developers don’t wish to create the entire thing from scratch.

The directory structure of a Ruby on Rails project.
The pre-built building of a Ruby on Rails endeavor.

Using the MVC construction, you’ll use Ruby on Rails to create full-stack applications that span the front and back end.

David Heinemeier Hansson introduced Ruby on Rails as an open-source endeavor in 2004. Hansson created Ruby on Rails while running on the endeavor keep watch over device Basecamp by means of the company 37Signals. Ruby on Rails places a large number of emphasis on the “conference over configuration” (CoC) paradigm and the “don’t repeat your self” (DRY) principle. CoC approach developers write a lot much less code and do fewer configurations within the tournament that they practice predefined conventions. DRY avoids redundancy and reduces the repetition of device patterns.

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Like Ruby, Ruby on Rails was additional prevalent in its early years and has taken a step once more as new frameworks emerged. Without reference to that, it’s matured through the years and has secured an important following. Developers nevertheless make a selection Rails because it follows conventions that put across building to construction, making the code easy to be informed and write and speeding up the improvement process and time to market.

Uses for Ruby on Rails

While Ruby has many use cases, Ruby on Rails is much more focused. It’s a framework geared handiest in opposition to growing web applications. While it will have a narrow focus, what it does, it does smartly. Ruby on Rails has been used to create one of the crucial most up to date web applications, like GitHub, Twitch, Soundcloud, Shopify, Hulu, Airbnb, and BaseCamp.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ruby on Rails

As an open-source framework, Ruby on Rails supplies a number of benefits that developers with quite a lot of experience can recognize. However, the framework does now not include out compromise. Since choosing a framework is as essential as deciding to your programming language, consider the following to you should definitely make the correct identify.

Pros

  • An open-source framework — unfastened to use.
  • Benefits from Ruby’s extraordinarily developed ecosystem.
  • Has some safety features built in and enabled by means of default, along with built-in protection against XSS, CSRF, and SQL injection attacks.
  • A limiteless collection of libraries, or gems, makes Ruby on Rails a very productive framework.
  • Shall we in for sooner prototyping and is a wonderful selection for MVPs.

Cons

  • A over the top collection of gem dependencies ends up in slower boot events, negatively impacting developer productivity.
  • The predefined building and out-of-the-box parts make it easy to build not unusual web apps using Ruby on Rails. However, this ends up in a lack of flexibility that makes customization tough.
  • With sooner construction events comes slower potency, often ended in by means of server and database construction issues. The ones issues become additional obtrusive when scaling the appliance.

Ruby vs Ruby on Rails: Key Diversifications

So, we’ve seemed at the particular person details of Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Let’s now check out their fundamental permutations.

Serve as Ruby Ruby on Rails
Language vs Framework A programming language written in C. A web construction framework written in Ruby. Ruby on Rails doesn’t have its non-public syntax because it uses Ruby since the programming language. Ruby on Rails is used to toughen the potential of Ruby in building web applications.
Protection In Ruby, the entire thing is an object. This means all wisdom will also be encapsulated, making the language additional safe. Ruby on Rails takes protection up a notch by means of protecting against cross-site scripting (XSS), combating SQL injection, protecting against cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and combating logging vulnerabilities.
Concepts Ruby is in step with the primary of client interface design, aiming to increase developer productivity. Ruby on Rails emphasizes using CoC and DRY regulations to increase developer productivity and reduce the amount of work.
Usage Ruby is a general-purpose programming language that developers can use on different platforms similar to the web, desktop, and other device equipment. Ruby on Rails is simply used for web construction.
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Ruby vs Ruby on Rails: What to Be informed First

Now that we’ve got discussed the differences between Ruby and Ruby on Rails, you could be wondering which one to learn first: the language or the framework. Choose the language first. So, if you want to seize Ruby on Rails, first learn Ruby on its own. Learning Ruby first isn’t a requirement for locating out Ruby on Rails.

However, it’s one of the vital perfect tactics to learn, and also you’ll must be advised Ruby someday. It’s always easiest to learn the basics of the programming language on which the framework is based totally utterly forward of jumping into the framework.

This is true for various frameworks. For example, Laravel is written in PHP, and Nest.js is written in Typescript. So, it’s additional truly useful to learn PHP forward of jumping into Laravel or learn Typescript forward of jumping into Nest.js.

Summary

This newsletter discussed the understandable confusion that arises from the similarly named Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Now that we’ve walked right through the history and popularity of Ruby and Ruby on Rails and outlined the a large number of and crucial permutations between the two, it’s clear they’re now not the an identical issue.

The differences had been made obtrusive by means of report and explaining one of the crucial additional no longer strange uses for Ruby and Ruby on Rails, their advantages and downsides, and by means of report some stylish internet sites, apps, and power written in Ruby or using the Ruby on Rails framework.

They have got been each and every created to make programming enjoyable and boost productivity. However, the main difference is that Ruby is a programming language you’ll use to build desktop and web applications. By contrast, Ruby on Rails is a web application framework that very a lot enhances Ruby’s outstanding options.

You’ll now not use Ruby on Rails without using Ruby. Ruby on Rails takes good thing about the protection already present in Ruby and gives additional security measures, making it a very safe framework. Moreover, Ruby is in step with the primary of client interface design, while Ruby on Rails was developed on the principle of DRY and CoC.

You’ll deploy your Ruby or Rails endeavor on Kinsta’s Software Website hosting platform. Get began by means of having a look at some quick-start examples to get your application off the ground.

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