Nic, our CTO, has been using Ruby on Rails since it emerged in 2004. He’s made a name for himself within the community through blogging and events over the years – we even used to run the Bristol Ruby meetup group and have sent developers to speak at Ruby on Rails conferences as far away as Kenya.
Over the last decade, we have made Ruby on Rails the core speciality of our development team, and we recommend it for the majority of projects we take on. But why do we love it so much?
Rails provides a framework for developers to adhere to and ensures all their code is structured to allow for easy alteration and rapid expansion. Here are just a few reasons we believe it makes the ideal language for your MVP development and beyond.
Efficiency
If you’re a startup looking to develop your MVP, speed is of the essence. You want to put your product in the hands of your users as quickly as possible to start collecting and working on feedback.
Using Ruby can cut development time by up to 40% and is kinder to your limited startup budget. If you’re choosing to outsource your development, the faster things move, the more money you’ll save.
Ruby on Rails champions convention over configuration. There are many "sensible defaults" that decrease the number of decisions your developers have to make and enables them to work faster. It is optimised with developer productivity and happiness in mind.
Project requirements often include functions to allow users to log in and out, recover their password, handle payments etc. Thanks to its maturity, Ruby on Rails has a vast number of reusable packets of code (called RubyGems) your developers can use to implement such features.
Once your app is out there in the world, having built it on Ruby on Rails also means you can alter or add features to your app at speed so that you can stay on top of your customer demands.
Talent pool
The Ruby on Rails framework encourages developers to adhere to code structure and common best practices.
This means your code will be robust, high quality and incredibly well supported. Any experienced Ruby developer should be able to read your codebase like a story and be ready to work on it right away, without new sets of logics or costly reconfigurations.
Additionally, Ruby is open-source software. Your app will benefit from the expertise of an entire community of developers from across the globe.
Your developers won’t need to reinvent the wheel for every single project or feature but can choose from proven, stable, community-developed solutions.
Security
In 2021 there can be no compromise on your app’s security. Users and businesses alike are more aware than ever of the risks of data breaches that can result in significant loss of money, customers and reputation.
Rails offers an array of in-built tools for tackling security threats such as XSS, CSRF and SQL Injection. Since its introduction to the market in 2004, Ruby on Rails has been adopted by huge companies like Basecamp, GitHub, Shopify, Airbnb and Hulu that have contributed further to the development of its default security features.
The community aspect of Ruby on Rails development means bugs are flagged and resolved quickly, and you have a worldwide pool of experienced developers to reach out to with any questions or issues you may have.
Stability
Ruby on Rails has been around for over 15 years, and with maturity comes stability. New security patches are regularly introduced, and over that time, a set of best practices and proven processes have been developed. So, you can be sure that your codebase is built on stable foundations.
Rails has also put a particular emphasis on testing. It has in-built automated testing functionality – reducing the time spent on testing and the likelihood of encountering buggy code. All of this drives quality up and costs down.
And that’s why we love using Ruby on Rails for MVP development!
It’s efficient, stable, secure and gives you access to code created by talented developers across the globe. Plus, you can scale it simply and quickly, making it perfect for MVP development and beyond.
Of course, Ruby on Rails works at its best when the developers behind it are committed to writing clean, durable code and rigorous testing. So, the people you choose are just as important as the framework. Check out the resources below designed to help you make the right decision or book a chat with us to see if we’re the right fit for your project.
