There are various programming languages in the cloud to choose from. However, if you want to develop web applications fast while maintaining clean & easy-to-understand code, you should consider Ruby Programming Language.
While Ruby and Python are popular programming languages among the majority of developers, they have stark differences.
In this article, we shall discuss the Ruby Programming Language & why various developers prefer this programming language, the differences between Ruby and Python & the uses of the Ruby programming language.
I guarantee you, after reading this article you will not need to read any other Articles. In fact, our readers are satisfied with this blog post.
Note – The only purpose of this article is to tell you about Ruby Programming Language in a very simple language. This article has been written by an expert person. If you think this article can be improved further then you must give us feedback.
Table of Contents
What is Ruby?
Ruby Programming Langauge is a dynamic & open-source programming language that focuses on simplicity & productivity because It has a good-looking syntax that is easy to read and write.
You can use Ruby in various fields of computer science, such as – web development & data analysis. The best part is that Ruby Programming skills are in high demand in the marketplace and if you can code using Ruby it can make you a very versatile and valuable programmer.
The Ruby Programming Language was developed in the mid-90s by Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto in Japan.
Since then, Ruby Programming Language has drawn an immense global user base with programmers from various industries using it to make some of the best applications in the world.
Compared to the other programming languages, such as – C, C++ & Java, Ruby is more user-friendly & easy to learn. This is because it has intuitive and English-like syntax.
If you want to learn your first programming language, I recommend Ruby programming language is a perfect choice for you.
What is Ruby Used For?
Ruby is a dynamic programming language and it is used in various fields of software development which are given below.
1. Web Development
One of the main reasons Ruby is the most popular programming language is its Ruby on Rails framework which revolutionized web development.
However, before this framework, web developers were used to spending a lot of time writing repetitive boilerplate code to build web applications.
Thanks to the Ruby on Rails framework, everything has changed! It comes with all the features you need to build scalable web applications and also known as Rails, it uses ready conventions that save you time in configuring your web projects.
Furthermore, Ruby on Rails has code generators that automatically create parts of an application allowing you to write less code. Running a simple command can generate boilerplate code, build a database model, or even generate a proper file structure.
2. Web Scraping
Ruby programming language comes with libraries like Nokogiri, Vessel, and Mechanize – they facilitate web scraping tasks. Web scraping with Ruby makes it easier to parse web data because it comes with packages like Vessel.
The Vessel package can help you to write Ruby scripts that crawl & download web pages quickly. You can then parse the crawled HTML content using Nokogiri.
The Library allows you to prepare the crawled data for the new HTML & XML objects. You can also perform data analysis including building machine learning models based on the crawled data.
3. Static Site Generation
When you visit a web page, the website uses a server-side code – which generates the HTML content served to your browser. In this case, there’s no html file behind the URL. Such HTML generation is not the fastest way to serve web files.
Therefore it would be best to use Jekyll (a popular static site generator written in Ruby). In other words, all web pages are loaded at the same time with a static website generator and it makes your website more efficient & secure.
4. Web Servers
Ruby Programming Language is also famous for building web servers. Servers process raw incoming HTTP requests and transmit them to the correct backend applications. They then handle the HTTP response that is sent back.
Puma, Passenger, and Unicorn are examples of web servers that were made using Ruby. The web application servers process HTTP requests, enable monitoring and diagnosing issues, and manage processes and resources.
5. DevOps & Automation
Ruby is the most popular choice for automating deployment, managing server configurations & orchestrating infrastructure. That is because it comes with extensive libraries including Heroku and Vagrant.
For instance, Heroku allows you to test, deploy, and stage web applications without DevOps architects.
On the other hand, Vagrant (a virtual machine management system) is written in Ruby Programming Language and it enables you to run – specific software on any operating system. For instance, you can turn a Linux-only service into a Mac executable configuration.
6. Data Processing
The Ruby Programming Language is perfect for data processing partly because of its readable syntax.
Furthermore, it has various other vital built-in functions, such as – Mapping, Reducing & Selecting which are incredible for easy data processing, cleaning, and filtering.
Why Ruby is a Worthwhile Choice for Developers?
There are various benefits that make Ruby’s programming language stand out from the competition, which is given below.
- Cost-effective – The Ruby on Rails framework is 100 percent free. It’s easy to work with (developer’s perspective) and easy to create and maintain your website without spending a lot of money to ensure greater quality, performance, or scalability of your site.
- Easy to Manage Changes – With Ruby, it is easy to modify the existing code or add new features to your site. You can easily and quickly make modifications to your site after its launch.
- Performance – Ruby greatly improves performance outcomes since it can slow down applications with a lot of computation or data handling.
- Secure – There are security measures built within the Ruby framework and enabled by default. The active Ruby on Rails community works tirelessly to spot and patch new vulnerabilities and the framework.
The Ruby programming language is also highly productive, it’s consistent, it has a Built-On-Model-View Controller (MVC) architecture, and it’s flexible, among many other benefits.
Ruby and Python: Which is the Best?
Ruby & Python are common programming languages among developers best known for their simplicity, readability & versatility. They have intuitive syntaxes that almost read like English. If you are a first-time programmer then these two are great languages to learn.
The differences between Ruby and Python are –
- Ruby supports only Eclipse IDE while Python supports multiple IDEs.
- Ruby is limited to Rails and Python is limited to the Django framework.
- Ruby is an object-oriented language. However, Python has more traction among data scientists.
- Ruby uses a powerful blocks feature. On the other hand, Python provides more libraries.
