by AVERY CHAN
Despite being over 19 years old, RoR remains a widely used framework of choice in 2023.
Well established.
One reason for RoR's continued popularity is its well-established status. RoR has been around for almost two decades, which means that it has had time to establish itself as a reliable and well-tested framework. As a result, many developers trust RoR and choose it for their projects. According to the State of JavaScript 2021 survey, 70% of developers who use RoR plan to continue using it in the future.
Easy and accessible.
Another reason for RoR's popularity is its ease of use. RoR is known for its simplicity, which makes it a popular choice for beginners. In fact, the 2021 Developer Skills Report by HackerRank found that RoR was the 3rd most popular language for beginners to learn, after Python and JavaScript. RoR's ease of use is due in part to its use of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which separates an application into three interconnected components, simplifying the development process.
Loyal developer pool.
RoR also has a large and strong community of developers. This means that it is easy to find resources, tutorials, and support when using the framework. Additionally, the community is constantly working on improving RoR and developing new tools and plugins for it. The RoR community is diverse, with developers from all over the world contributing to the framework. The community also organizes events and meetups, providing opportunities for developers to learn, network, and share their knowledge.
Constantly evolving.
RoR is not stagnant, despite being a mature framework. The community is constantly working on improving RoR and developing new features for it. For example, in 2022, RoR 7.0 was released, which introduced several new features and improvements, including faster boot times and better support for Ruby 3. RoR's evolution means that it continues to stay relevant and up-to-date with the latest web development trends.
Dependable and robust in production.
Ruby on Rails has gained widespread adoption among companies building web applications. Many famous tech companies use RoR as the foundation for their web applications, allowing them to quickly create, iterate, and deploy new features to users. Airbnb, for example, uses RoR to power its online marketplace for lodging and accommodations. RoR allows Airbnb to rapidly iterate on new features and deploy updates quickly to its users. Github, another well-known tech company, uses RoR as the foundation for its web-based platform for version control and collaboration. The interactive and responsive user interface that RoR enables is crucial for a platform that is designed to facilitate collaboration among developers.
Other companies using RoR include Basecamp, Shopify, Twitch, SoundCloud, CrunchBase, Square, Zendesk, and Bleacher Report. Each of these companies has leveraged RoR to build web applications that are highly customizable, scalable, and flexible. For example, Shopify uses RoR to build custom storefronts for its e-commerce platform, while SoundCloud uses RoR to scale its infrastructure and rapidly iterate on new features for its audio distribution platform.
RoR's popularity among companies building web applications is due in large part to its ease of use, flexibility, and rapid development capabilities. RoR allows companies to develop web applications quickly and easily, making it a reliable choice for companies that need to iterate on features quickly. RoR also has a robust testing framework, making it easy for developers to test their code and ensure that it is working properly.
As we move further into 2023 and beyond, we will likely continue to see RoR being used as the foundation for many more successful web applications.