Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (sometimes abbreviated to Rails or RoR) is the Web implementation of the programming language Ruby. A newcomer, it is growing in popularity and its adherents swear by it.
Advantages
- Rapid programming: Especially of database interfaces. The reason: Ruby on Rails automatically fills in certain parts of a program that haven’t yet been written. For instance, you can describe a database to it and it will automatically create interfaces to update and search that database. The interface may not be beautiful, and it may not include all the features you want (or do so in the way you’d like), but it is still a working interface.
Disadvantages
- Performance: Ruby on Rails is not as fast as some other languages, although for many applications this is not an issue.
- Safety: Ruby lacks certain safety features that highly structured, compiled languages have. This is a problem only for certain types of projects.
- Non-standard: Ruby is not as widely used as some other languages, although its popularity is increasing.
Choosing Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails is a good choice for the rapid creation of database interfaces that don’t need to be perfect, and especially for those that don’t need to assign different sets of permissions to different users.
Ruby on Rails is less useful for complex applications where its advantages do not come into play.
