10 Useful Tips For Ruby On Rails Developers

Ruby On Rails is one of the world's premier frameworks for developing web applications, with an elegant syntax and emphasis on convention over configuration enabling developers to rapidly build and deploy apps. From beginners to seasoned Rails developers alike, there are always ways to optimise workflow and produce more efficient scalable apps; here we present 10 useful tips for Ruby On Rails developers which will improve development processes, streamline workflow and create better applications.

1. Practice Convention Over Configuration

One of the core principles of Ruby on Rails is "Convention Over Configuration." This means that Rails encourages developers to follow certain conventions that make getting up and running much quicker without needing to manually configure everything themselves. By adhering to these conventions you can focus on writing the actual business logic instead of spending time configuring all details manually - for instance Rails provides predefined ways of handling database relationships file structures and naming conventions which make moving much faster while minimizing errors.

2. Make Your Code Organised

As Rails applications expand and code becomes disorganized, one effective method for keeping it all together is "concerns." Concerns allow you to share common functionality between models or controllers instead of repeating identical code over and over - keeping DRY (Do Not Repeat Yourself) code DRY while making maintenance and expansion simpler for your app.
If multiple parts of your application need to send notifications, creating a single concern to manage that logic in one location can keep code organised and reduce duplication.

3. Take Advantage of Rails Console

One of the most helpful tools available to developers working with Rails is its console, enabling real-time interaction and testing out of changes to code before making them permanent. Whether exploring databases, testing methods or running quick queries - its simplicity makes experimenting and troubleshooting effortless.
Imagine having an interactive sandbox where you can experiment without fear of breaking your application. Test models directly, call methods directly and inspect app behavior with an improved debugging workflow for faster and more effective debugging sessions.

4. Use ActiveRecord for Database Queries

ActiveRecord is the builtin ORM (ObjectRelational Mapping) system included with Ruby on Rails, providing a way for you to interact with databases without writing raw SQL statements directly. While ActiveRecord can be an immensely useful tool, to fully leverage its potential it's essential you gain an in-depth knowledge of its inner workings - prefer using its builtin methods instead of writing custom SQL.
ActiveRecord queries are both simpler to write and easier to maintain. For instance, when retrieving all users who signed up in the last month, ActiveRecord automatically creates the best SQL query to do this task - freeing you to concentrate on developing business logic instead of worrying about database queries!

5. Regularly Test Your Code

Testing is an integral component of software development processes, but testing in Ruby on Rails development processes is even more essential due to its rapid pace. Regularly checking that your code works as planned should be of primary concern if using RSpec and Minitest make automating tests easier for your application.
Testing helps find bugs early in the development process, which reduces the likelihood of issues in production. Plus it gives you confidence when making changes to your application - instead of relying on manual tests every time, automated ones will save hours while decreasing human error.

6. Leveraging Background Jobs for TimeConsuming Tasks

A key challenge of web development is keeping an app fast and responsive during timeconsuming processes like sending emails, processing images, or creating reports. Rails provides an efficient solution by using background jobs asynchronously to handle these timeconsuming processes without degrading user experience. These jobs allow these activities to run away from main request cycles without slowing user experiences down significantly.
Example: when users upload an image to your app, you may want to resize it before it's displayed. Instead of doing it in realtime which could take several seconds, offloading this task to a background job ensures your app stays fast and responsive for its users.

7. Keep Your Code DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)

Ruby on Rails promotes DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), one of the fundamental principles of software development. Repeated code can lead to inconsistencies, bugs and maintenance difficulties for applications containing repeating logic; to reduce these risks look for opportunities to consolidate such logic into reusable methods or classes.
When writing code that's similar in multiple controllers, consider extracting that logic into a shared concern or service object to improve maintainability and reduce bugs over time. Following the DRY principle will keep your codebase cleaner and reduce risk.

8. Track and Optimize Performance

As your app grows, its performance becomes ever more crucial. Rails makes monitoring easy; but to identify bottlenecks proactively it's essential to identify potential bottlenecks early. New Relic and Skylight provide valuable insight into which parts of your application are consuming most resources so you can address potential issues before they arise.
Performance optimization may include indexing databases and caching applications or improving response time of an app. Making these improvements not only will make your app faster but will ensure it can expand with your user base effectively.

9. Use Caching for Increased Speed

Caching can be used to significantly enhance the performance of your Rails application, by temporarily storing parts of its data so it no longer needs to be generated every time it's requested - particularly helpful when managing pages like product listings or blog posts that don't change often.
Rails provides various caching strategies such as fragment caching and lowlevel caching that allow you to efficiently store specific sections or pages from your app or even entire pages for later retrieval, relieving server loads while speeding up response times for improved user experiences.

10. Consider Ruby on Rails Training

One of the best ways to develop your Rails development skills is investing in Ruby on Rails training. While this framework is beginnerfriendly, there will always be new features, techniques and best practices to learn - whether this means attending bootcamps, online courses or reading books and articles; continuing education will keep your skills fresh.
Rails is constantly evolving, so staying abreast of its latest features and best practices will allow you to take full advantage of them. By investing in training courses you'll become a more valuable developer capable of creating more sophisticated scalable applications.

Conclusion

Ruby on Rails is an advanced yet flexible framework for creating web applications. By following these 10 tips you can increase productivity, streamline development processes, build more effective applications faster, and increase workflow efficiency. Regardless of whether this is your first experience using Rails or you have been using it for some time - there's always something new you can learn that can take your development skills to new levels!