Ruby on Rails vs JavaScript - A Detailed Comparison

About Ruby on Rails and JavaScript

What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails (Rails) is a widely used web development framework. It's an open-source framework written in Ruby that simplifies the development process by providing guidelines and best practices for developers. It's designed to save developers time by prioritising convention over configuration. This means that developers don't have to waste time setting up and configuring their applications, but instead can focus on creating the unique features of their application.

Ruby on Rails has become popular due to its emphasis on simplifying the work of developers and improving their productivity. It offers several features that help speed up the development process, such as automated code generation and scaffolding. These capabilities allow developers to rapidly build an initial version of their application that performs basic functions without writing all the necessary code themselves and many companies look to hire Ruby on Rails developers.

Furthermore, Ruby on Rails has a vibrant community of developers who actively contribute to the framework, and help their fellow developers.

What is JavaScript?

We generally use HTML to structure the webpage and CSS to add styling to it but that is only the static web page where users can't interact. That is where JavaScript language comes into play.

JavaScript is a lightweight programming language that is cross-platform, interpreted, and object-oriented. Developers use JavaScript to design interactive and dynamic web pages. JavaScript supports both client-side and server-side programming. JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages because it is highly versatile. It allows us to control multimedia, animate pictures, and do a variety of other things.

There are two methods for adding JavaScript code into an HTML web page: internally and externally. In the Internal  JavaScript method, <script> tag is used within the body of HTML to add all the JavaScript code. External JavaScript, on the other hand, requires storing the code in a separate .js file and then retrieving it within the HTML page. While working on large projects, developers frequently use this technique to keep the code structure organized.

Key Features

Ruby on Rails - Key Features

Ruby on Rails comes with a lot of important features that enable developers to build applications with ease. Some of the key features are mentioned here:

MVC architecture: Ruby on Rails uses Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture model that breaks an application into three parts: data, user interface, and control logic. This approach helps to organize the code and make it easier to maintain. The "model" component represents the data, the "view" component is the user interface, and the "controller" component manages the control logic.

Convention over configuration: Ruby on Rails prefers conventions and established ways of doing things allowing developers to customize everything from scratch. Doing so speeds up the development process and simplifies it, so developers don't have to spend as much time on manual configuration. This approach is known as "convention over configuration".

ActiveRecord: Ruby on Rails has a library called ActiveRecord, which makes managing databases easier by serving as an interface between the application and the database. This means developers can interact with data using an object-oriented approach without writing complex SQL queries.

Scaffolding: Ruby on Rails has a feature called scaffolding that can create a simple application with all the basic parts like views, controllers, and models. This feature can save developers a lot of time by providing an initial point for the application.

Gems: Ruby on Rails has a large number of plugins called Gems that provide additional functionality to the framework. Functionalities like authorisation, authentication, testing and many more!

RESTful routing: Ruby on Rails uses RESTful routing principles to define how to access different parts of an application. This helps developers create consistent and organized APIs, making it easier for them to work with and manage different resources.

JavaScript - Key Features

Cross-platform: JavaScript language is supported by various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is built into Netscape 2.0 and greater, and runs on all platforms which support Netscape.

Light-weight: Since JavaScript is not a compiled language, there is no prior byte-code conversion. However, it does adhere to a model known as Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation. Hence, just before it executes, it is transformed to bytecode. Because of this, JS is a lightweight programming language. JavaScript can be executed on even less powerful machines.

Interpreted: As discussed above, JavaScript is not a compiled language but it's rather an interpreted language just like Python and Ruby. The source code of JavaScript is interpreted by the browser, line by line and is then executed.

Browser support: JavaScript is supported by almost every web browser including Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc.

Case sensitive: JavaScript is a case-sensitive language where all variables, function names and other identifiers must follow consistent capitalisation of letters.

Object oriented: JavaScript is a prototype based Object Oriented programming language. Data types like Arrays, Functions, etc. inherit properties of the object prototype.

Scripting language: JavaScript is a lightweight scripting language designed for client-side processing on the browser. It manages the web pages displayed to the user and its associated processing, such as cookies, sessions, and local storage, on the client's machine (browser).

Dynamically typed: Type checks (whether string or number) take place during run-time which makes JavaScript dynamically typed language. In JS, we don't need to clearly state upfront what kind of data will be kept in a variable. For instance, when we define var "num", "num" can now hold a string or an integer.

Performance Comparison

Ruby on Rails Performance

Ruby on Rails has received criticism in the past for its performance, but a lot of improvements have been made to the framework in recent years. While Rails prioritizes developer productivity, this can sometimes come at the expense of performance. However, each new version release of Rails has shown improvements in performance, and the framework can now handle even high-traffic websites and applications.

One key factor in achieving optimal performance for a Rails application is to follow efficient coding practices. Writing inefficient code can lead to slower response times and increased server load. Rails provide developers with tools and libraries such as caching and background processing to help write optimized code.

Previously, Ruby on Rails faced challenges in handling multiple requests at the same time, which impacted its performance. However, the introduction of multi-threaded servers, such as Puma, has improved the performance. With this improvement, Rails is now able to handle a larger number of requests.

Ruby on Rails has shown great performance in the development of real-time web applications. This is mainly due to key features like ActionCable, which enables real-time communication between the server and the client. These tools make it possible to develop interactive web applications that are responsive and provide smooth user experiences.

JavaScript Performance

JavaScript is a widely used programming language for creating web applications and interactive experiences and many firms look to hire JavaScript developers. Its performance has improved considerably over the years, thanks to enhancements in web browser speed, hardware, and JavaScript language features. The faster and more efficient web browsers have allowed JavaScript to perform better, which means developers can now build more complex and interactive applications that run more smoothly and respond more quickly.

Modern JavaScript engines, like V8 and SpiderMonkey, can compile and execute code at incredibly fast speeds. This makes it easier for developers to create highly responsive applications that users can enjoy without delays or lags.

Another critical factor that affects JavaScript performance is the smoothness of the user interface. To achieve this, developers need to minimize the time taken for JavaScript to render and update the user interface, as well as optimize the use of memory and other system resources. Techniques like lazy loading, code splitting, and caching can help to reduce the amount of JavaScript that needs to be loaded and executed by the browser, ensuring a smoother and more responsive user experience.

JavaScript's performance has significantly improved and is expected to continue doing so as web technologies and hardware advance further in the future.

Popularity over the years

Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails has grown in popularity since its initial release in 2004. It is an open-source web development framework with over 50K stars on GitHub.

Overall, Rails continues to be a popular and reliable option for web development. According to the Stack Overflow 2022 survey, more than 5 percent of the respondents use Ruby on Rails for their projects. The framework is used by over a million websites across the world.

Overall, Rails continues to be a popular and reliable option for web development.

JavaScript

Over 1.8 billion websites exist worldwide, and 95% of them use JavaScript. According to Github's 2020 Octoverse Report, JavaScript is by far the most popular language.

The basis for JavaScript's success is its origin tale. Its original name was Mocha, followed by LiveScript and then Javascript. The story starts in December of 1995 at the Netscape headquarters, where Brendan Eich participates in a ten-day coding sprint and comes out with a new language. Because of a license deal between Netscape and Sun (the company that owned Java), the language was renamed to Javascript and particularly "Java" script because Java was the most popular language at that time and this would help in Javascript's marketing.

While JavaScript has earned the title of "The Language of the Browser," its destiny changed in 2009 with the introduction of Node.JS, a runtime environment that allows JavaScript code to be executed outside of a web browser. Because Node.JS represents the idea of "JavaScript everywhere" paradigm, JavaScript's popularity has consequently increased.

Due to JavaScript's popularity, a number of libraries and frameworks have been developed, which have improved the effectiveness and efficiency of application development. React JS, jQuery, D3.JS, and other libraries are now used in the majority of apps all over the globe. Large apps can be built with the optimal performance of frameworks like Angular, Ember JS, and Vue JS. According to Stackoverflow, JavaScript has one of the largest communities amongst the programming languages.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of Ruby on Rails

Rapid development: Ruby on Rails provides a set of conventions and best practices that help developers create web applications quickly and efficiently. This allows them to focus on the unique features of their applications.

Large and active community: Ruby on Rails has a large and active community of developers who contribute, collaborate and help each other. This makes it easier for developers to get assistance when they need it.

Object-Oriented Programming: Ruby on Rails is based on the object-oriented Ruby programming language, which enables developers to write well-organized and maintainable code.

Built-in testing framework: Ruby on Rails comes with a built-in testing framework that makes it easy for developers to write and run tests, ensuring that their application is free of bugs and errors.

Disadvantages of Ruby on Rails

Performance: In the past, Ruby on Rails had been criticized for its performance due to the huge emphasis on developer productivity rather than performance. However, the framework has been continuously optimized with each new version, and significant improvements have been made in the past years to address these performance concerns.

Memory usage: Ruby on Rails applications may require more memory, which can result in higher expenses for servers.

Scaling: Ruby on Rails can handle high-traffic websites and applications, but scaling can be challenging and may require additional infrastructure.

Advantages of JavaScript

Less server load: JavaScript runs on the client-side and hence, the requests sent to the server get reduced. User input is validated before the request is sent to the server and hence, it saves server traffic which reduces the load on the server.

Rich interface: JavaScript's rich interface capabilities allow for dynamic and interactive web pages, with features such as animations, user input validation, and real-time updates without requiring a page refresh. This makes for a more engaging and seamless user experience on the web.

Increased interactivity: By allowing developers to manipulate HTML and CSS elements in real-time, JS can enhance the user experience by providing increased interactivity, dynamic content updates, and seamless page transitions.

Speed: JS runs on the client side without the need for outside resources and third party apps which makes it a very fast language.

Versatility: JavaScript is a highly versatile programming language that can be used for both front-end and back-end development, as well as for building mobile and desktop applications. Its flexibility and vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks make it a popular choice for developers across various domains.

Updates: In order to maintain JavaScript's relevance within the industry, the development team and ECMA International regularly update and build new frameworks and libraries.

Disadvantages of JavaScript

Browser compatibility: JavaScript can behave differently in different browsers resulting in different outputs, which can cause compatibility issues.

Multi-threading or Multiprocessing: JS doesn't support multi-threading or multi-processing.

Debugging: Debugging JavaScript can be challenging due to its loose typing and dynamic nature, making it more prone to errors.

Client-side security: JavaScript is executed on the client-side, which means that it can be exploited by attackers to carry out malicious activities.

Use Cases

Ruby on Rails - Use Cases

Ruby on Rails comes with a lot of important features that enable developers to build applications with ease. Some of the key features are mentioned here:

MVC architecture: Ruby on Rails uses Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture model that breaks an application into three parts: data, user interface, and control logic. This approach helps to organize the code and make it easier to maintain. The "model" component represents the data, the "view" component is the user interface, and the "controller" component manages the control logic.

Convention over configuration: Ruby on Rails prefers conventions and established ways of doing things allowing developers to customize everything from scratch. Doing so speeds up the development process and simplifies it, so developers don't have to spend as much time on manual configuration. This approach is known as "convention over configuration".

ActiveRecord: Ruby on Rails has a library called ActiveRecord, which makes managing databases easier by serving as an interface between the application and the database. This means developers can interact with data using an object-oriented approach without writing complex SQL queries.

Scaffolding: Ruby on Rails has a feature called scaffolding that can create a simple application with all the basic parts like views, controllers, and models. This feature can save developers a lot of time by providing an initial point for the application.

Gems: Ruby on Rails has a large number of plugins called Gems that provide additional functionality to the framework. Functionalities like authorisation, authentication, testing and many more!

RESTful routing: Ruby on Rails uses RESTful routing principles to define how to access different parts of an application. This helps developers create consistent and organized APIs, making it easier for them to work with and manage different resources.

JavaScript - Use Cases

Cross-platform: JavaScript language is supported by various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is built into Netscape 2.0 and greater, and runs on all platforms which support Netscape.

Light-weight: Since JavaScript is not a compiled language, there is no prior byte-code conversion. However, it does adhere to a model known as Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation. Hence, just before it executes, it is transformed to bytecode. Because of this, JS is a lightweight programming language. JavaScript can be executed on even less powerful machines.

Interpreted: As discussed above, JavaScript is not a compiled language but it's rather an interpreted language just like Python and Ruby. The source code of JavaScript is interpreted by the browser, line by line and is then executed.

Browser support: JavaScript is supported by almost every web browser including Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc.

Case sensitive: JavaScript is a case-sensitive language where all variables, function names and other identifiers must follow consistent capitalisation of letters.

Object oriented: JavaScript is a prototype based Object Oriented programming language. Data types like Arrays, Functions, etc. inherit properties of the object prototype.

Scripting language: JavaScript is a lightweight scripting language designed for client-side processing on the browser. It manages the web pages displayed to the user and its associated processing, such as cookies, sessions, and local storage, on the client's machine (browser).

Dynamically typed: Type checks (whether string or number) take place during run-time which makes JavaScript dynamically typed language. In JS, we don't need to clearly state upfront what kind of data will be kept in a variable. For instance, when we define var "num", "num" can now hold a string or an integer.

Which is better - Ruby on Rails or JavaScript

Both Ruby on Rails and JavaScript are powerful tools for web development, but they serve different purposes. Ruby on Rails is ideal for building complex web applications, while JavaScript is perfect for creating dynamic user interfaces and adding interactivity to web pages.

While these two technologies may seem independent at first glance, they can actually work together seamlessly. Developers often use JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.js alongside Ruby on Rails to create more sophisticated web applications. Ruby on Rails can also be used to build RESTful APIs that can be consumed by JavaScript front-end frameworks.

It's important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each technology and how they can complement each other in order to build robust and scalable web applications.