Ruby on Rails Overview

Introduction

• Ruby on Rails: A server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License.
• Released: Initially in July 2004 by David Heinemeier Hansson from his work on Basecamp.
• Latest Stable Release: Version 8.0.2 released on 12 March 2025.
• Repository: GitHub
• Website: rubyonrails.org

Key Features

• Model-View-Controller (MVC): Provides default structures for databases, web services, and web pages.
• Convention over Configuration (CoC) and Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principles.
• Active Record Pattern: An object-relational mapping system for database access.
• Innovative Features: Seamless database table creation, migrations, and scaffolding for rapid application development.

Framework Influence

• Influenced many web frameworks including Django (Python), Laravel (PHP), and Phoenix (Elixir).
• Used by major sites like Airbnb, GitHub, and Shopify.

Technical Overview

Model-View-Controller Pattern

• Model: Maps to a database table and a Ruby file; follows "convention-over-configuration".
• Controllers: Handle web server requests, query models, and render views.
• Views: Usually erb files converted to HTML at runtime; supports various templating systems.

HTTP Servers

• Commonly paired with web servers like Phusion Passenger, Apache, and Nginx.

JavaScript

• Extensive use of JavaScript libraries; as of Rails 7.0, includes the Hotwire family by default.

Web Services

• Supports HTML and XML as standard output formats for RESTful web services.

CSS

• Sass introduced as standard CSS templating in Rails 3.1.

Ruby Versions

• Rails 3.0 designed to work with Ruby 1.8.7, 1.9.2, and JRuby 1.5.2+.

Framework Structure

• ActiveRecord: Object-relational mapping system.
• Action Pack: Handles controller and view functionality.
• Active Support and Action Mailer: Additional functionalities.

Deployment

• Typically deployed with MySQL or PostgreSQL databases and a web server like Apache.

Philosophy and Design

• Convention Over Configuration (CoC): Simplifies development by adhering to conventions.
• Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY): Ensures information is stored in a single place.
• Fat Models, Skinny Controllers: Most application logic resides within models.

Version History Highlights

• Rails 3.1: Introduced Asset Pipeline and CoffeeScript.
• Rails 4.0: Introduced Russian Doll Caching and Turbolinks.
• Rails 5.0: Introduced Action Cable and API mode.
• Rails 6.0: Made Webpack default; introduced Action Mailbox.
• Rails 7.0: Replaced Node.js with import maps for JavaScript management.
• Rails 8.0: Empowered developers for independent hosting.

Reception

Scalability

• Criticisms over scalability issues, notably by Twitter's transition to Scala for certain services.
• Despite criticisms, used by many high-profile web firms for scalable applications.

Security

• Highlighted vulnerabilities like mass assignment and session cookie persistence issues.
• Security improvements and recommendations in subsequent Rails updates.

Trademarks

• Trademark applications for "RUBY ON RAILS" and "RAILS".
• Trademark for the Rails logo was canceled on 25 October 2019.

Conclusion

Ruby on Rails remains a highly influential framework in web development, valued for its emphasis on conventions, rapid development capabilities, and robust community support.