Ruby on Rails is one of the most stable and performance-oriented platforms for developing many e-commerce sites, information portals, social networks, complex enterprise solutions and much more. However, getting the best out of this framework can be difficult if you don’t have enough experience as a ROR developer. In such situations, you should hire Ruby on Rails developer to work on your custom ROR project.
If you are looking to improvise your Ruby on Rail developer skills or want some tips and tricks to improve your overall ROR performance, we have you covered. But before we dive into the best practices, let’s understand why ROR is the ideal choice for your web app development project.
Why ROR for your web app project?
There are many benefits and features that ROR brings to the table, which might make you understand why choosing ROR is beneficial for your business project. Here are some of the best reasons to opt for Ruby on Rails –
Open-Source
Rails is an open-source platform, meaning Ruby developers can easily read and understand the core codes for understanding the system. Having that access can result in better customization and fine-tuning of your ROR-based apps.
In-Built Testing Support
Rails come with a built-in testing environment that allows developers to efficiently conduct tests on the ROR project at any time and point in the development stage without having to depend on third-party libraries for doing the same. Since ROR has its tests, they are configured to be efficiently able to test if the ROR app is capable enough to provide the desired output.
Development with Text File Formats
Ruby on Rails supports text-based configuration files. There are three text files, ruby code file, YAML and HTML. Since they are text-based files, they can be easily edited, moved and deployed. You can easily do their backup as well. This makes development easier and accessible on lower config pcs, too, as you can easily create a ROR file on Notepad if you are using Windows or Textmate on Mac.
Reliable and Easy to Maintain
A highly performance-oriented web app is not beneficial if it crashes half the time or faces downtime issues. Luckily Ruby on Rails follows a test-driven development approach and comes with many important testing tools and capabilities. There is also support for automated testing, which adds to the stability of web apps built with Ruby on Rails.
Large Repository and Massive Community
Ruby on Rails has been around for a while, and a large pool of existing ROR solutions is available for developers to use and understand. Since there are pre-made solutions for most tasks or functions, this eliminates the need to develop everything from scratch when working on a new ROR project. The ROR community is huge and very active where new projects are announced, discussions about the framework are present, and developers help each other troubleshoot ROR challenges they are facing in their projects. This makes ROR an ideal choice to power your web app.
Cost-Effectiveness
As a business owner, you are most worried about billable hours and the time taken for your project to be completed. The longer the time taken, the more you need to wait to go live with your project. Moreover, since the development budget is directly proportional to development hours, you would ideally not want to invest in web frameworks that take a longer time to develop your project. Ruby on Rails is built with agility and faster development in mind. If you hire dedicated developers from a trusted ROR development company, you can get your ROR app developed faster at cost-effective rates.
Ruby on Rails Best Practices to Follow in 2022
Now that we have understood the various Ruby on Rails features that make it the preferred choice for developing your custom web app, we should look into some of the Ruby on Rails development best practices for improvising your overall ROR project performance and speed.
Follow DRY Principles
Ruby on Rails follows object-oriented principles that assist developers in avoiding code duplication throughout their web apps. The DRY principle dictates that for every piece of knowledge, there should only be a single, authoritative, and unambiguous representation of a system. Hence, you should follow DRY principles for writing clean, maintainable, and bug-free code. You should try reusing code as much as possible instead of repeating the same line of codes at different parts of your ROR project.
Integrate Internationalization/Localization from beginning
If you are developing your web app for a global audience, you should internationalize your Ruby on Rails project from the beginning instead of leaving it for later. Rails have an i18n gem that makes internationalizing your Ruby app much easier. This gem comes with support for English and many other languages out of the box. It also lets the developers set a default locale and an option to change the locale per the user’s preference or current location.
Don’t use functions that don’t function well with Iterators
Iterators are essential to Ruby development, especially when dealing with complex tasks. This is why we should avoid using slower methods and look for alternatives that perform more efficiently to derive the same result. For instance, using Date#parse for displaying date is not the best method in ROR. Instead, the best practice in ROR would be to specify the date format you want, for instance, mm/dd/yyyy format.
You can write this code like this –
Date.strptime(date, ‘%m/%d/%Y’)
Keep checking your Logs
Ruby on Rails has a default log file during the development and production phases. Generally, developers ignore the data stored in these files. However, it is essential to view these log files when developing and testing your apps. Doing so helps you understand the processing flow and find out your code’s limitations.
Use Parameterization to prevent SQL Injection
SQL injection is a concerning attack on the web app’s database by manipulating SQL code. Through such attacks, exploiters can access data that the developer didn’t want to share. Moreover, they could manipulate this sensitive data too. Though there are many ways to prevent SQL injection in your ROR app, one of the most effective practices is using Parameterization. Adding quotes around a query makes the code vulnerable to SQL injection. (zamorano.edu) Keeping the queries parameterized ensures your ROR database stays secure.
Final Words
These are the top ROR best practices to follow in 2022. Make sure you use these tips and tricks to optimize your Ruby on Rails web app, gain an edge over your competition, and provide your customers with an unparalleled user experience while ensuring the safety of their sensitive data points like personal and financial information.
