Ruby on Rails Primer

Ruby on Rails is basically a kind of free web application framework that aims to increase the ease and speed in the creation of database-driven websites. It also provides skeleton code frameworks from the outset. It is often shortened using the terms RoR or Rails.

It is an open source project which has been written using the programming language Ruby. Applications that make use of the Rails framework are developed through the model of a Model-View-Controller design. Some of the main principles of Ruby on Rails include CoC or Convention over Configuration and DRY or Don’t repeat yourself.

Rub on Rails has actually been created by David Heinemeier Hansson, which was an extraction from Basecamp, which was a project-management tool he worked on under the web designing company 37signals, which is now associated with web application. Ruby on Rails was first released in July 2004 to the public. Two years after, in August 2006, Apple announced they would be shipping Ruby on Rails along with their Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard that was released in October 2007.

Similar to other contemporary web frameworks, Ruby on Rails again makes use of the MVC or Model-View-Controller architecture in organizing the application programming. It also extensively uses JavaScript libraries like Prototype as well as Script.aculo.us for Ajax. For its web services, Rails originally supported lightweight SOAP and then later on, RESTful web services.

Ruby on Rails comes in different packages which are ActiveResource, ActiveRecord, ActiveSupport, ActionPack, and ActionMailer. Aside from the standard packages offered, developers could also create plugins to be able to extend the existing packages.