What has changed in ROR 4.2 - The new version of Rails

During mid-August the ROR 4.2 was announced for the first time. Now when it is out it definitely looks to go a long way. Besides being the latest and upgraded version, this time certain interesting changes have been introduced in the Ruby on Rails application. Moreover, since it is the recent version it is being widely applied to solve performance issues across the various ROR versions.

Let’s explore the changes one by one:

Active Job and Action Mailer

Delayed Job, Resque, Sidekiq, etc are queuing systems and on top of these lies Active job, an adapter layer. This feature can be used to note down the jobs and they will be running on the queues without any changes. This happens due to the pre configured inline runner. It is a new framework that has been added to Rails 4.2.

Besides the Active Job, there is Active Mailer that is available with #deliver_later method which can add an email that is to be used to the queue. If this is done the model or controller cannot be bogged down at all.

Adequate Record

This version of ROR is also packed with another performance improving feature, known as Adequate Record. This is a set of patches that enables the Active Record to be faster twice. As far as Active Record is concerned it transforms the relation objects to ARel ones. The ARel objects stand for the SQL query AST. Lastly, the Adequate Record can also convert the AST to a real SQL string that is further made to pass to the database.

The Adequate Record works by caching onto the SQL query pattern even when it executes the Active Record calls. The cache, thus, helps in skipping some part of the computation that is engaged in transforming the calls into SQL queries.

Web Console

This is a set of debugging tools used for the ROR application. In a default Rails error page the interactive console is automatically launched. Inspecting the stack trace as well as executing the Ruby code becomes easy with this. Thus running the rail console proves to be quite handy. At times, however, it is not easy to access or share the session with a friend if it is configured with a remote desktop server. It is in this regard that the web console can help the rails console to run. These are found on the in the terminal right in the browser.

Support for Foreign Key

Initially there was no support for the foreign key – neither while adding it nor while removing it. But this time it is different. These keys are immensely useful to ensure that the data stays consistently and corrected even while the records are removed. This feature is supported ROR out of the box.

Bootstrapping apps

For enabling an automated setup code while bootstrapping an app, a new feature has been launched, known as setup or bin. If you have already written down the script then it is time to rename it. For almost all the Rail applications, you need to run certain commands before they are tried out. Even if the apps are almost empty they would require the database to be setup prior to the booting. This is also the place where you should include other codes required to run your applications as well.

HTML Sanitizer

Finally, ROR has replaced the HTML Sanitizer with a more robust framework that has been built across Nokogiri and Loofah. The advantages of this new sanitizer are that it has been built more powerfully and it is also more secure.

Besides the mentioned changes there are other several changes as well, like, the following:

• JSONB datatype is supported by PostgreSQL adapter

• ActiveRecord::Base#validate! has been introduced. This leads to the display of RecordInvalid if the record is actually invalid.

• In order to define the validation on the association a :required has been added to the singular associations.

• #valid? Has found a new alias in #validate

Owing to such changes and more, the ROR 4.2 is being considered as an application that will help I further improvements. You can get in touch with a Ruby on Rails development company, who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Future of Ruby on Rails as a Programming Language

A number of recent reports have highlighted how Ruby on Rails (RoR) is being adopted widely by both established companies and startups across various sectors. Many reports have even indicated that Rails will be used widely for mobile application development. The most recent information clearly indicates a steady and consistent increase in the popularity of RoR as an open source and full stack internet application development.

The framework written in Ruby also supports several widely used software development architectures and patterns including model–view–controller (MVC), active record pattern, don't repeat yourself (DRY) and convention over configuration (CoC). So Rails makes it easier for programmers to create robust internet applications that complement the most recent trends in web development.

Why the Future of Ruby on Rails is Extremely Bright?

Full Stack

Unlike other popular web technologies, RoR is a full stack web development framework. So it can be used to cover the font-end as well as the back end. A web programmer can use Rails to create an entire internet application without relying on any other developers. Any developer familiar with HTML, JavaScript and CSS can start using RoR. Thus, the enterprises can easily hire Rails developers for their project.

Usable for Creating a Wide Range of Internet Applications

At present, Ruby is used by businesses belonging to different sectors to create internet applications and online portals. Along with allowing users to tweak or change the applications in a flexible way, Ruby also enables them to test the application quickly and efficiently. Further, businesses can use the programming language to update their internet applications by adding new features. In comparison to other web technologies, Ruby can better effectuate the development, testing and deployment of applications without requiring any extra time and efforts.

Option to Customize Internet Applications

Often programmers have to customize the look and feel of an internet app according to client’s specific requirements. Unlike other technologies, RoR enables developers to easily create their own building blocks, and add plug-and-play functionality to the application. The developers also have option to reuse the elements of their current project for future projects. So they can easily extend the performance and usage of the app without developing building blocks from the scratch.

Saves Time and Money

Many enterprises, nowadays, opt for open source technologies to curtail project costs. Along with being open source, RoR also enables developers to cut significant chunks out of internet app development project. At the same time, the framework also makes it easier for programmers to complete coding within a reduced span of time. Thus, a business can rapidly move from planning stage to development stage. Many startups and emerging companies rely on Rails to save both development time and cost.

Facilitates Software Updates

As RoR supports MVC architecture, it becomes easier for programmers to keep the model separate from view and controllers. They can simply create models using a wide range of objects, and modify the models to change the web application’s look and feel. Once the modifications are done, the models can be saved in the database and reused with different server side code. Rails further make it easier for database developers to create optimized SQL queries, while preventing SQL injection and XSS attacks. Thus, RoR is popular among businesses that require the web applications and online portals to be updated at regular intervals.

Support of a Large and Active Community

Like other open source technologies, Rails is also supported by a large and active community of developers. The community further contributes hugely towards increasing the adoptability of the framework. Along with improving Rails code consistently, the developers also help other programmers in completing their projects. So the novice Ruby developers can avail the assistance of the community to get software libraries to simplify certain tasks and to fix certain issues.

The web programmers can further use the most recent version of Ruby on Rails to avail several new and enhanced features. For instance, the latest version of Rails 4.1 allows them to avail new features like variants, spring, enums, mailer previews, and secrets.yml. You can get in touch with a ruby on rails development company, who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide ruby software development services. If you would like to hire Certified Rails Programmers for your development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Soltuions.

Changes in Rails 4 and what impacts will it have

The release of Rails 4 has been much anticipated with nearly 1 year spent on the development. Architecturally, there are no major changes; nevertheless there are quite a number of changes in the overall system. There is a modular format in the evolving of the framework with the main focus being keeping the main codebase lean as well as effective. In fact, many features have been pushed into separate gems and for deprecated features all official support has been removed. However, if a developer really needs to use them then they can do that without too much trouble.

Minimum Ruby 1.9.3- This is considered as the biggest change that has been brought in this framework. With minimum ruby 1.9.3 needed, 1.8.7 has become completely obsolete. Previously there was no issue as such about the versions but with this renewed requirement it has become necessary to upgrade everything. This might seem to be challenging but nothing can be far from the truth. RVM makes the upgrading process really simple. So there is nothing but benefits to reap- a smooth transformation with the features of the improved as well as upgraded version.

Turbolink- The turbolink concept is often marked as controversial since due to it, normal HTTP links are not generated by Rails and everything is done with JavaScript. The serving of the original page will be done normally; however, other links clicked afterwards will result in all markup being deleted, replaced with HTTP reply’s markup and then the displayed URL will be updated. It might seem complicated, but since browsers do not have to go through requests for checking the changes of Javascript and CSS files, the method is really fast. Just a single request has to be focused on, without any attention needed to be given to additional requests.

ActiveRecord::SessionStore- When we use cookies to store sensitive information it might lead to problems and breach of security later on. Thus, to eliminate that problem ActiveRecord::SessionStore feature has been abolished. But if you do want to store sessions in database all you have to do is take help of activerecord-session_store gem and this functionality can be brought to use.

ActiveRecord::QueryMethods.none- This is a newly introduced function that helps implement the null object pattern. This is perfect for those conditions where there is a method that returns some relation but a condition requires the database to not being queried. This will help in smooth working of all chained conditions without much of an issue which helps eliminate the requirement of constant checking of the object for a relation.

Thread-safe- This feature has been incorporated as a default feature. This helps in good performance of threaded HTTP servers in case the same Ruby process is handling multiple requests. For the characteristic Rails application, it may not mean much but it does ensure that the used gems are thread safe; also the application code will keep the state to itself. In case the same variable is accessed by another thread, this will ensure that the normal results like crashes and other disastrous circumstances are avoided. It also helps avoid data corruption.

Streaming through ActionController::Live- Through Rails, streaming can be conducted. Through HTTP streaming the response is doled to some request over a period of time instead of everything at the same time. In case of media like video streaming, this is often used. Simply including ActionController:Live module can help use streaming. Response.steam.write can be used for writing of data or text to stream. This addition may be small but a lot of possibilities are opened by this.

There are several other additions as well as subtractions and the aim of all these is to make the framework more functional and user-friendly. In all, it is quite easy to implement the new architecture so that maximum advantages can be enjoyed but with the least problems. You can get in touch with a ruby software development company, who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide Ruby on Rails development services. If you would like to hire Certified Rails Programmers for your development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Soltuions.

Few Facts to Know About Ruby Programming

Ruby (R) is a general-purpose object-oriented, programming language with an intensely dynamic as well as reflective approach along with a series of to-the-point yet flexible syntax, specifically designed to minimize the syntactic noise and to serve as the very base of languages that are domain-specific. Now, when it comes to using Ruby, the programmers need to know about certain facts regarding the language so that it becomes easier for them to deal with it.

However, instead of straightaway discussing about the facts, let us at first discuss the background against which the language was introduced. When we talk about apps development for websites along with mobile devices, it is mostly governed by a wide variety of software that is mostly available on the internet. Ruby is one of them and the language is mostly influenced by Lisp, Perl, Python, Eiffel, Ada, Smalltalk, etc.

Dynamic Typing

The language comes up with a string of good things and compile-verifiability along with IDE support. It also comes up with dynamic typing properties that really help to get the projects bootstrapped as well as smooths along the changes, especially during the middle or the early stages of the projects.

Spectacular Modules

From the functional point of view ‘R’ comes up with features that are similar to trails that you find in Perl, Squeak, Scala. From the technical point of view the language allows dynamic addition of the news elements of class hierarchy during run time. “super” is dynamically evaluated during run time, for considering the modules which are added. When it comes to extension of functionality, it becomes easier as extension can be done in an umpteenth number of times, if and when needed.

Besides, in this particular language the class bodies are not considered special context. They are considered context, where ‘self’ points on a particular ‘class’ object. Again, that method is excellent when it comes to execution of arbitrary codes in class, especially when it comes to creating fresh methods, execution of other code pieces, updating class instance variables etc. However, bodies of ‘R’ classes are capable of taking up runtime information into consideration, much unlike Java annotations.

String Eval

String Eval is another property that helps ‘R’ to take various structures that are Ruby-oriented such as Rail routes and AOP definitions and then compile them into the Ruby Methods. Though these things can be implemented as add-ons onto other languages, Ruby helps in implementation of these things. Besides, Ruby is a large degree and self-hosting language as well.

Some of the basic facts about the language are mentioned below:

1. Web applications are such that they can be performed within a matter of a few days
2. The language is immensely dynamic, imperative, as well as reflective
3. Ruby programming language is highly object-oriented
4. It supports multiple programming paradigms
5. ‘R’ is much easier to write than the shell scripts
6. It is rich with an innumerable number of plug-ins
7. It is much easier, when it comes to building up a certain query

For projects, which take months to complete can be completed with the help of Ruby in weeks and at times within a matter of only a few days. This can be done with the help of R, especially (ROR) Ruby on Rails, as the extension comes up with a string of strategies of development, which are fast as well as simple, when compared to other languages.

It is because of these and many other factors that ‘R’ is fast becoming one of the most adorable as well as sought after languages in the programming world and the fact that it is much safer than others in terms of longevity has almost confirmed that the language is going to stay along with the likes of Java, .NET and so on. You can get in touch with a ruby on rails development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide Ruby on Rails development services. If you would like to hire expert Ruby on Rails developers for your development needs, please contact Mindfire Solutions.

What Differentiates ROR 4 from ROR 3?

As an open source full-stack framework, Ruby on Rails (RoR) is widely used by developers across the worlds to rapidly develop web application. Along with featuring an independent routing system, RoR also supports popular software engineering patterns like model-view-controller (MVC), don't repeat yourself (DRY) and convention over configuration (CoC). The developers also have option to choose from different versions of the Ruby programming language based web application development platforms, including RoR 3 and RoR 4. If you are yet to migrate to the most recent version of Ruby on Rails, it is important to understand some of the features that differentia these two versions.

Some Major Features that Differentiate RoR 4 from RoR 3

Changed Mass Assignment Mechanism

The RoR 4 comes with completely revamped mass assignment mechanisms. The mechanism can still be used to feed unfiltered params to the model by putting into a gem. However, the hashes need to be generated by using the require and permit methods on the param hash. The model will also support the hashes generated in a new way. The change makes it easier for programmers to separate model from the user interface. They can simply state the attributes to be updated explicitly to eliminate mass assignment security risk.

Turbolink

The fourth release of Ruby on Rails generates normal HTTP links using JavaScript. While serving the web page initially, it generates normal links. But when a user clicks on a link, it deleted all markups and updates the URL displayed in the address bar with the markup generated from the HTTP reply. The feature makes it easier for developers to increase the speed of their web applications. As the browser is not required to check the changes in CSS and JavaScript files, no additional requests are sent to the server. A single request from the browser can generate and deliver the results more efficiently.

Default Thread Safety

By default, RoR 4 is designed as a thread-safe development framework. So the same Ruby process can now quickly process multiple requests on threaded HTTP servers. However, the feature does not make all gems used by the application thread-safe. Also, the application code cannot maintain its states automatically. So the programmers need to ensure that individual gems are thread safe to avoid problems when the application code interacts with any global variables or class variables. The feature must be used carefully to avoid data corruption and application crashes.

Live Streaming

The most recent version of Rails also supports live HTTP streaming. The HTTP streaming feature can be used by web application developers to doll out response to a user request over a time. So the user requests are not required to be responded at once. During the streaming process, RoR will simultaneously produce output, wait for new data generation, and continue streaming new output after waiting for a specific amount of time. The feature can be used by programmers to optimize the performance of RoR applications that use streaming videos and media.

Improved Cookies Serialize

RoR 4.1 also serialized cookies in a completely different way to make the web applications more secure and stable. Earlier, the objects placed inside cookies Hash were being serialized and deserialized by RoR programmers through Marshal.dump and Marshal.load. The method was prone to the risk of remote code execution by attackers. The most recent version of RoR comes with an improved JSON serializer that supports simple JSON data types like string and integer. Thus, the complex objects that can be used by attackers cannot be generated. The programmers also have option to use a hybrid serializer to smoothly convert their existing marshalled cookies into JSON cookies.

The fourth release of Ruby on Rails intends to keep the primary codebase lean by pushing several features of RoR 3 into separate gems. At the same time, RoR 4 has evolved as a more modular web application development framework with major changes in its internal architecture. You can get in touch with a ruby on rails development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide Rails e-commerce site development services. If you would like to hire Ruby on Rails developers for your development needs, please contact Mindfire Solutions.

Ruby on Rails - Some practices to avoid

The web framework of Ruby on Rails is open source and optimized so that sustainable productivity is inspired in programmers. It favours convention instead of configuration so that beautiful code can be written. However, those who are new to the framework find that there are some preferred ways to accomplish a task given; knowing about them is absolutely imperative since otherwise a lot of problems crop up. If you know how to handle a particular task and how to approach it, then the task becomes really smooth; then you will be able to write clean, more secure as well as maintainable codes. In order to write the best codes, here are some practices that you must always avoid.

Do not Rescue everything- The individual controller actions should not be embedded with rescues. Some edge cases may require stuff to be rescued specifically during actions but the entire controller should not be assaulted by rescue. In fact, a rescue must always be attached to individual exception as otherwise all exceptions are caught and then useful plugins do not get called. It leads to no generation of back traces which results in a scaffolding of handling error and then finding of collapses, leaving us with an inconsistently failing mess.

No overriding of existing methods- This must be avoided like the plague. An existing method mustnever be overridden unless the existing functionality is mimicked completely along with tests to prove the authenticity. If there is a compelling reason for you to do this then the resulting method must be put in place that is very clear; it should be documented extensively as well. It should not be put in somewhere bizarre such as a plugin; if the code fails then you would have to research through a big winding backtrace to find the problem.

The controller must not be long- The controller should in no conditions, be more than 1000 lines long. For 100 actions there must be at least 10 individual controllers; 1 huge one should not have them all. If the controller has 5 actions then whatever goes into every one of the actions should be reconsidered.

Validations should not be in the controller- Nothing should ever be validated in a controller; there can be no excuse for that. For validations there are helper methods in the moles which are quick as well as easy to use.

The params hash should never be modified- All data submitted from request is contained by params hash. In case of modifications, it cannot be accessed by later codes. Instead the params hash must be copied and the copy should be modified.

Avoid using time_ago_in_words- Rails developers often use time_ago_in_words so that time such as “4 minutes ago” may be displayed. However when the server side attempts to calculate the time it becomes too expensive. So client CPU must be used for time ago calculation.

Kill chubby controllers- A controller should not have any business logic. Remember that there are just two functions of controllers- taking data from session or params to send to model and then deciding what the user should see. The necessary logic is performed by the model. Including anything else in the action is simply overdoing.

Avoid copying and pasting huge swatches of CSS and code in a view- When copy pasting the code, make sure to paste it into a helper that is easily accessible so that if somebody has to change the code’s instances, it can be done in one place. Even in case of CSS, you surely do not want to confuse people with its size as during modification it will be a tiresome task, so avoid copying out huge amounts of CSS.

There are still plenty of places where you might go wrong while coding. The only thing to do is to carefully consider everything and then assign specific roles very strictly. The conventions as well rules must be taken very seriously. Make sure that the final output is tested thoroughly so that there is little room for errors. You can get in touch with a ruby on rails development company who can help you web develop apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

we provide Rails web development service. If you would like to hire Ruby on Rails developers for your development needs, please contact Mindfire Solutions.

Ruby on Rails - Is there any future?

Ruby on Rails (RoR) is widely used by developers across the world to build robust internet applications and content management systems. The full-stack framework is developed based on Ruby programming language, while allowing developers to create pages and applications using an independent routing system, without relying on the web server. RoR further supports several widely used software engineering principles and patterns like model–view–controller (MVC), don't repeat yourself (DRY), and convention over configuration (CoC).

However, each internet application developer, nowadays, has option to choose from a variety of commercial and open source web application development frameworks. So the open source framework must complement the ongoing and emerging trends in web development to beat competition. However, many reports have highlighted that developers will opt for Ruby on Rails in 2013 and 2014 to avail several benefits.

6 Reasons Why Ruby on Rails will Remain Popular among Web Developers

1) Faster Development

Developers, nowadays, have to create robust web applications within a stipulated timeframe. So they explore ways to avoid lengthy and repetitive coding. RoR supports convention over configuration that enables developers to avoid repetitive coding. Also, they have option to adopt agile development methods to plan and execute the entire project within a short span of time. The framework also makes it easier for project manager to break down the larger projects into smaller parts. So the developer can always deliver richer user experience by including fresh and innovative features in the application.

2) Flexibility

Unlike conventional web application development frameworks, RoR offers more flexibility to developers. The programmers can avail the feature to customize and modify an application according to the specific needs of the customer. In addition to making modifications, the programmers can further add new functionality to optimize the application to meet the changing business needs.

3) Reduced Development Cost

Despite being providing flexibility and development speed, RoR is still an open source technology. As the web application development is available freely, it can be used by the large as well as small and medium enterprises. Also, the developers can use the framework to optimize the application’s performance, security and speed without using any commercial tools. So RoR will remain popular among the developers and users who want to curtail development cost by avoiding non-open-source and proprietary technologies like Java and .NET.

4) Embrace Agile Methodologies

A constant increase is noted in the number of enterprises adopting agile methodologies of project management. These principles help enterprises in reducing project cost and time, while delivering high quality and user experience. Unlike other web application development frameworks, RoR fully supports agile methodology. Further, the shorter development cycles makes it easier for developers to apply agile principles to the application.

5) Enhanced Security

Many reports have highlighted how the applications developed on Ruby on Rails are more secure. Further, security patches have been added to the framework based on the security issues raised by users. The latest version of the platform called Rails 4 comes with security fixes for all the vulnerability issued highlighted through the Github hacking case of 2012. Rails 4 include loads of inbuilt security features that a developer can avail and implement properly to provide a comprehensive security cover to his internet application.

6) Active Community of Developers

Like other open source technologies, RoR is also supported by a large community of Ruby developers. The highly active and responsive members of the community help developers to avoid writing additional code for regular functionalities. At the same time, the developers can join the community to keep track of the extensions and enhancements, along with accessing the new documentation. As RoR is emerging as a popular web development trend, many developers are learning the innovative technology. The gradual increase in the number of passionate programmers will make it easier for enterprises to switch to RoR.

In addition to building internet applications, Ruby is also used by many banks and insurance companies to evaluate their frameworks thoroughly. The framework allows the application to be tweaked or changed in a flexible, effective and efficient way. So the programming language is used widely to test and optimize the performance of an application in a given infrastructure. The scope for innovation provided by the programming language enables RoR to complement the emerging trends in web application development and testing. You can get in touch with a ruby on rails development company who can help you develop applications which are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide Ruby on Rails development services. If you would like to hire Ruby on Rails developers for your development needs, plese visit at us Mindfire Solutions.

The importance of learning Ruby on Rails and its scope in future

Ruby, the popular programming language was created by Yukihiro Matz Matsumoto and is commonly used for web programming. This programming language is extended by the software library known as Rails, created by David Hansson who gave it the name Ruby on Rails or RoR. This full-stack framework covers both back as well as front end design, installed with the help of command-line interface operating system. RoR combines Ruby along with CSS, JavaScript as well as HTML so that web applications running on web server can be created. Sites such as Basecamp, Twitter, etc have used this language as its base, making this a potent tool. Its popularity has made it very important to start learning the language. As it is, there is a war going on between PHP and RoR; in this war, slowly PHP seems to be losing its importance. Here are some reasons that make it important for you to start implementing RoR.

Feature-filled language- It is quite impressive, combining some really great features of all dynamic languages, taking ideas from the best, strongly-typed as well as static languages to blend them into an object-oriented paradigm to get maximum things done without writing a huge amount of code. The code is less but better-structured which makes editing, reusing, experimentation as well as iteration quite easy.

Open source- This language is open source; not only that, the community around it, is helpful as well as thriving. The language itself is great with a really idealistic user experience, which makes it attractive to be used by new developers.

Code-based data model- For Ruby on Rails, data model has to be defined with code. After the creation of initial data model, changes must be made with the help of scripts to manipulate the model.

Well documented- The language is extremely well documented. The web contains a huge number of resources like high quality, effective and fun to follow video tutorials which are available both for pay as well as free. These are better than many books. There are huge support groups as well as communities which can help you in case you are facing some kind of problem.

Tool options- The system is relatively simple with a good amount of IDEs for development. Additionally, the ecosystem of RoR has plenty of excellent tools which fulfill almost any need that they arise in the minds of a developer; on top of that most of those tools are open source or free. So this is good place to work if you want an ecosystem that boasts of topflight tools support.

Rapid development model- Convention and not configuration is what decides the development model of Ruby on Rails. This simply means that once you have learned to do things in the way that the language expects you to do, then many heavy lifting will be done by it on your behalf. Your work will be very quick, especially in case of many kinds of development tasks.

Advantages over PHP- There are a number of advantages to using this platform instead of PHP. One of them is that developers do not simply like using it anymore; their impatience as well as frustration has grown with the language. PHP is very easy to use with lax rules which makes it easy for your to write bad codes. In fact, in case of alterations, additions or catching of random bugs, correcting everything becomes time consuming as well as expensive.

One thing of concern is that it may prove to be slightly difficult to learn. However, it is not impossible and a little concentration is all that it will take to master the language. The other alternative option is to use PHP but as illustrated in the earlier point, PHP is gradually becoming obsolete. So Ruby on Rails development is a must-do thing if you want to stay in sync with the changing times.

We provide Rails development services. If you would like to hire certified Rails developers for your development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.