Ruby on Rails Developers: 6 Tips & Tricks

| Updated on March 22, 2024

The Ruby programming language is used as part of the Rails web framework. It is a model-view-controller architecture. One of its biggest attractions is the ease with which it can be used to create CRUD-based Web applications. Rails have the advantage of valuing convention over configuration over other frameworks. Following the correct conventions can avoid the lengthy configuration of files. Therefore, writing config files becomes less of a hassle, and more time can be spent on implementing business logic.

Here are ten valuable tips, ideas, and resources for newbies and professionals interested in hiring ruby on rails developers. Comment below if you have tips, ideas, or suggestions!

Don’t Overcomplicate the View

Embedding Ruby into HTML with ERB makes it easy to build views. You must build your views carefully since large view files are challenging to manage and maintain. It can be possible to fall victim to code repetition in this area, which sometimes leads to violations of DRY(don’t repeat yourself).

Be Careful Not to Overfill the Model with Logic

As part of the Active Record model, some functions are not related to the core responsibility of the model, such as creating emails and interfering with external services. Active Record’s primary function is to locate and perform CRUD operations on the database.

A model can use some of the following best logic:

  • Relationships between Active Records (Associations) and validations.
  • Properties can be updated and stored in the database using simple functions.
  • Access Wrappers can hide internal information about a model (for example, full_name combines the first_name and last_name fields).
  • Don’t use Active Record queries outside the model when dealing with databases.

There was a warning that I shouldn’t use too much logic anywhere in MVC. Could you consider where else we can place our logic at this stage? However, you should not use your logic inside the MVC. You can instead use all logic outside of MVC, which will not slow down the application and make managing logic much more accessible.

 

Limit How Many Gems You Use

Don’t forget that each gem you add to your application may have dependencies on other gems, and each gem may have dependencies on other gems, etc.

Gems make Rails applications more complex than they need to be. Production applications may suffer from this. Furthermore, this may increase server memory requirements and increase operating costs.

Are you aware that adding ‘rails_admin’ to your application will add 11 more gems? There may be more dependent gems on those 11 more gems.

So be careful to cross-check gems before adding them to your application.

Mixing Frameworks and Servers with Rails on Rack

Since Rails 2.3, Rack has run on top of Rails. Ruby Web frameworks and servers can be mixed and matched with Rack. You can pick from any of the servers that support it (Phusion Passenger, Mongrel, Thin, etc.) if you’re using (like Camping, Rails, Sinatra, etc.) a framework that supports it. 

This change allows Rails to use the exciting world of Rack middleware in addition to providing all kinds of new options for deployment. Due to Rack’s location at the intersection of your app and your server, it can provide all kinds of standard functionality directly. Take Rack::Cache, for instance.

By sending the proper headers in your responses, Rack::Cache provides a caching layer for your application. All you must have to do is add a few lines of code to the Rack configuration file:

Be sure that the controllers send the correct headers (e.g., by setting request. headers[“Cache-Control”]), and presto, you’ve got caching.

Automatically Write Tests

It is recommended that at least one high-level test case be written for each action in your controller. This testing framework will be a straightforward means of verifying the basic functionality of your application if it becomes expanded, modified, or upgraded at some point in the future. Writing test cases will also allow you to discover problems with your logic.

Check Your Application Logs Regularly

Most Ruby on Rails developers ignore the default Rails file log, but it is essential to consider this since it is available during development and in production. Track the process flow in your log file during development and testing.

You may often encounter N + 1 query problems; to identify these N + 1 query problems, you need to review your application log. You can find code inefficiencies by reviewing log files.





Leena Ray

Digital Marketing Writer and Editor


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