Web Development

Ruby Rails

Using Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails builds full-stack web apps with MVC.

Introduction to Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails, often referred to as Rails, is a web application framework written in Ruby. It is designed to make programming web applications easier by making assumptions about what every developer needs to get started. Rails is known for its convention over configuration approach and its use of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture.

Understanding the MVC Architecture

The MVC architecture divides the application into three interconnected components:

  • Model: Represents the data and the business logic. It communicates with the database and processes the data.
  • View: Displays the data. It is the user interface of the application.
  • Controller: Handles the input from the user, interacts with the model, and renders the view.

Setting Up a Rails Application

To start building a Rails application, you need to have Ruby and Rails installed on your system. Once you have them set up, you can create a new Rails application using the following command:

Creating a Model in Rails

Models in Rails are used to interact with the application's database. You can generate a new model using the Rails generator. For instance, to create a Post model with a title and body, you would run:

Defining a Controller and Actions

Controllers in Rails handle the web requests from users. They contain actions, which are just methods that handle specific requests. To create a controller for our Post model, you can use:

Inside the generated PostsController, you can define actions like index and show to list all posts and display a single post, respectively:

Creating Views in Rails

Views in Rails are templates that are used to present data to the user. By default, Rails uses Embedded Ruby (ERB) for views. For example, you can create an index.html.erb file under app/views/posts to display all posts:

Conclusion

Ruby on Rails simplifies web application development by adhering to the MVC pattern, providing generators for routine tasks, and integrating seamlessly with databases. By following these steps, you can quickly set up a basic Rails application and start building powerful web applications.