8 Useful Tips to Become a Better Ruby-On-Rails Developer

Ruby might be the right programming language to learn this year. In fact, in 2018 it was in the top 5 of most wanted ones by developers. That's probably because it allows you to write clean code with almost no syntactic and semantic 'noise.' Furthermore, it offers several libraries for implementing lots of functionalities and supports these aspects as OOP (object-oriented programming) and metaprogramming.

The Ruby ecosystem has approved style guides, which are a great way of standardization. Gems are the creation mechanism of libraries and tools, and there are more than 150K available. The Ruby Gems storage provides more straightforward navigation through new tools and faster obtaining of the necessary libraries.

Ruby-on-Rails is the most popular Ruby framework. That's because it requires less code writing and avoids repeating. It's an open-source framework, which can be used for all purposes. Ruby provides such solutions so that developers could quickly build a fully functional app. What's more, it will meet safety requirements and will be more useful to work with.

As an established Ruby on Rails development company, in this post, we'll list some quick and useful tips to help you become a better developer using this framework.

Track The Exceptions

You can't avoid exceptions, but at least you could be aware when they happen. Don't wait for your client to tell you that something's not right. You should be the first to know about an issue and work to resolve it.

Ruby-on-Rails provides exception notification you could make use of. You could track exceptions with some easy to install plug-ins. Doing this helps you to see the frequency of occurrence, as well as the environment they occur in. This data makes any issue easier to be resolved, which leads to a better application in general.

Use Plug-Ins For Faster Development

Talking about plug-ins, we couldn't skip mentioning how much time they could save you. Ruby on rails has a tremendous plug-in structure so that you can easily install them into your app. Just think of all the code that you don't have to write because it has already been written to provide the functionality you need.

You could genuinely save a lot of time by searching the GitHub. Most of the common application features are already provided by good Ruby on Rails developers or if they're not, probably they're halfway there. So why waste your time on something that is already done.

Rails On Rack

Rack provides a very minimal and adaptable interface for building web applications in Ruby. It makes it possible to combine Ruby Web frameworks and servers. Ruby on Rails allows you to choose from any of the servers that support it. It provides access to the so-called Rack middleware.

Rack is in the middle of your app and your server. It means it allows you to use all standard functionalities directly.

Add Schema

A schema is a means to define the content, structure, and semantics of XML docs. The main thing that made Rails stand out was that it read your database schema as the app began. It used it to determine attributes, which must appear on the models.

Adding a schema to your app has made Rails remarkable because as the app starts up, all the handwork is instead done at run-time. Schema validates user input at the protocol level upfront if you have an unambiguous one rather than at the application's implementation level.

Easy Testing

As we all know by now, testing is crucial for a seamlessly working app. However, it could be a time-consuming process. Nevertheless, when working with Rails, you could make use of automated testing for a way more enjoyable experience.

Automated tests are helper plug-ins you could write to run bits of your main code, to make sure it's on the right track. If you do this right, it will significantly improve your workflow and your results in general.

Once you run these small tests to ensure the functionality works well, you can start making changes if needed or add new code without worrying about potential bugs. Regularly running analysis, will help you know when there's something to fix, or you're doing things just right.

Keep Your Constants Together

Applications have constants, such as their name or value for crucial options. Rails have an initializer feature for housing such constants. With the help of this convention, developers working on one project know where to look for constants and make changes quickly.

Rubylearning can help you with defining your constants and identify where they need to be placed.

Try Out Console

When wondering if a specific code will work in some way or what you can change about it to make it better, Console is Rails' tool, which can help you. By running it, you will enter an interactive environment where you can access your Rails code just like as if the app was running.

Such an environment could be very helpful. Usually, it's used in production domains to peek at data without having to log in to the database.

Easier Data Dumping

Data often needs to be switched through dev to your local or another developer's local and vice versa. To easily do that, you can use a plug-in like Yaml_db, for instance. What it does is enable you to dump or load data by issuing a Rake command. Furthermore, it's straightforward to read if you'd like to examine the data.

Wrapping Up

There is no better way to learn something than trying it and learning from experience. A community like the Rails one could be very helpful, but you still need to be dedicated to achieve the best results.

That's why we've given you our eight quick tips and directions on how to make the most advantage of the Ruby on Rails framework. It covers a range of different functionalities, including industries like mobile development, and even robotics and AI. Rails ecosystem is among the best and most desirable for startups. If you're one of them and want to be a good ruby on rails development company, you can check out this article.