This blog post examines how Ruby on Rails simplified the complexity of web development through the MVC pattern, automated commands, and the Gem ecosystem. It focuses on the practical advantages for beginners and startup development environments.
As more young people venture into startups, creating a website to explain their business or provide services has become a natural step. While basic websites offered by various web hosting providers can meet certain requirements, the need to build a site directly is growing to more clearly express the business’s unique identity or to provide services in a stable and efficient manner. While websites can fundamentally be built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, systematically managing data like information or bulletin boards within the site requires utilizing a database, creating an area that is difficult for the average user to access. Server configuration also acts as an additional barrier to entry. To resolve these inconveniences, various web frameworks have emerged, one of which is Ruby on Rails (hereafter Rails). This article introduces the features and advantages of web application development frameworks, focusing on Rails.
Before understanding Rails, it’s necessary to first look at Ruby. Ruby is a programming language designed by Japanese developer Yukihiro Matsumoto in 1995. He aimed to create a more accessible programming language, emphasizing the philosophy that programming languages should be designed with humans in mind, not machines. True to Matsumoto’s philosophy, Ruby possesses a structure that is far more intuitive and easier to grasp compared to widely used languages like C, C++, and Java. It also boasts high readability, to the extent that it can be interpreted as abbreviated English sentences. Then in 2005, a web programming framework based on Ruby was released: Ruby on Rails. The name “Rails” comes from the idea of “Ruby on the Rails,” embodying the ambition to drastically reduce web programming time, making it as fast as a train.
To fully utilize Rails, understanding the MVC pattern applied in this framework is essential. MVC stands for Model, View, Controller and is one of the most prominent design patterns. The Model represents the data entity itself that needs to be managed. For example, when building a bulletin board page, the posts become the Model. A post includes elements like the title, creation date, and content including photos. The Model defines these elements and ensures they can be systematically managed in the database. The View represents the screen that users directly see on the website. The View is fundamentally composed of HTML and CSS, allowing for the implementation of visual design and layout at this stage. The Controller fetches the information to display to the user from the database, stores it as variables, and then passes it to the View. The View can utilize variables passed from the Controller and has the advantage of allowing relatively simple execution of complex tasks that would otherwise require JavaScript. Thus, Model, View, and Controller work together organically, helping even novice developers with limited web development experience implement web applications with relatively shallow knowledge.
After constructing multiple pages using the Controller and View, each page must be assigned an address to allow users to access it. For example, accessing the address “www.website.com/home” should display the website’s home page. This functionality, which connects paths, is called Routing. Rails provides this routing functionality in a relatively simple manner. Controllers contain function definitions called `def`. These functions integrate with the View specified by the programmer and operate by linking a single `def` to a specific address. For example, if the address “/home” is assigned to the `index def` in the Home Controller, accessing “www.website.com/home” will display the View linked to the `index def` on the screen. Unlike traditional website development methods where addresses are automatically determined by file location, Rails offers a significant advantage by allowing flexible address configuration and modification as needed.
One of Rails’ most powerful features is its Gem platform. Gems bundle functionality from web applications created by individual or multiple developers into a single package. This allows you to easily use frequently needed website features simply by installing and applying the Gem, without having to implement them yourself. For example, suppose you need to implement a page displaying animated charts within your website. Implementing this directly might require writing hundreds of lines of code. However, by downloading and applying a Gem that implements this functionality, you can achieve the same result with just around ten lines of code. Of course, libraries providing similar functionality exist even in basic HTML and JavaScript environments. However, Rails allows you to see at a glance which Gems are being used, and their management is systematic. Furthermore, Gems aren’t limited to features displayed on the screen; they also cover areas like database management and server environment configuration, providing productivity that is incomparable to traditional website development methods.
Most of the Rails features described earlier can be automatically generated with just a few lines of commands. The code forming the basic skeleton of a website can also be generated with a single command, and new Models, Views, or Controllers can be easily added using the same approach. Routing is also automatically configured by default, and the database is created at the framework level. Modifying or deleting each feature later can also be handled simply through commands. In this way, Rails significantly enhances development efficiency by providing various commands that automate tasks developers must perform repeatedly.
We have now explored the key features and advantages of Ruby on Rails. Building web applications using Rails allows development in a much more intuitive and convenient environment compared to traditional website creation methods. The auto-generation capabilities also accelerate development speed by several times. Even without extensive knowledge of databases or servers, learning Rails enables you to handle a broad range of core functionalities required for web application implementation. In fact, the Rails development team officially released a video demonstrating the creation of a personal blog in about 15 minutes, a feat still frequently cited as a symbolic example of Rails’ productivity. Recently, Ruby on Rails use cases are gradually increasing in Korea as well, and localization of official documentation and tutorials into Korean is ongoing. If you want to build a website that stands out from others, learning Ruby on Rails remains a highly worthwhile challenge.
