Ruby programming language was created in the late 1990's. It had a cult following but it failed to reach high status. In 2004, a company called 37 Signals released a Web programming framework called Rails, which was originally developed for their own in-house projects. Rails was written using the Ruby programming language. So it is the combination of Ruby and Rails together that has generated great anticipation in the development community.
Rails is a full-stack framework for developing database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Control pattern. From the Ajax in the view, to the request and response in the controller, to the domain model wrapping the database, Rails gives a pure-Ruby development environment.
It is an integrated framework that utilizes the dynamic nature of the object-oriented Ruby programming language. Rails developers emphasize features of the framework for productivity rather than tools, and they take a common approach to Web architecture that should satisfy the needs of a large portion of the Web application projects .
Ruby on Rails is known for its ability to build Web applications quickly and with ease. Even for first-time users of Java, it could take just about five to ten days to build a moderately useful Web application that will communicate with a database using accepted Java Web best-practices such as separating business logic, from display logic. With no prior training on Ruby on Rails, it takes about one day to accomplish the same goal using the Ruby programming language. In few more days, it enables user to build a relatively complete Web application with Ruby on Rails.
Rails has an ORM database layer built into its framework called Active Record. Another useful feature of Rails is scaffolding ,Rails can generate code called scaffolding that can be used to quickly put up functional Web pages that talk to a database and allow you to add, delete and change information quickly and with very little coding. As previously mentioned, in other languages you have to select naming conventions and define the general structure of the file system, while Rails utilizes conventions and the Ruby programming language so that all of that is provided for you.
Another feature of Ruby on Rails that enrich developer productivity is the rapid feedback loop. The feedback loop is the amount of time between making a change in code and seeing the results in the execution of your application on the screen. In Rails, you get nearly-instant feedback as you code. There is no compile or packaging phase needed. You can immediately load a browser page to see the results of your changes. Managers should take note of this feature, because with enhanced productivity comes improved client satisfaction.
It is essential to note that introducing a radically different framework such as Ruby on Rails can be detrimental to a company's development, testing, and production infrastructure. For example, Rails applications are installed differently than common development platforms such as Java or Microsoft's .NET. Operations managers need to understand how to deploy it effectively.
A common question regarding Ruby on Rails relates to its performance relative to its peers. Some companies claim that Ruby on Rails does not perform as well as comparable systems. Comments such as these must be looked at objectively and balanced against productivity gains. Managers then need to make the decision of whether it is cheaper to hire people or purchase additional hardware, and chances are they will find that purchasing more hardware makes better financial sense.
A-1 Technology, an offshore software outsourcing company is working on Ruby on Rails technology . Various small and large organizations can greatly benefit from this wonderful technology. A-1 technology has best in class resources for Ruby on Rails technology that can help in leveraging the capabilities of Ruby on Rails to reduce development cost and time to market.
Richard Sarno
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A-1 Technology, Inc.
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New York, NY 10006
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