Ruby is a great language for web development – it’s already solid on its own, but gets even better with Ruby on Rails – a great framework that had a major influence on the way web apps are developed.  Still, life goes on and the whole tech industry keeps moving forward. New languages are invented, new frameworks are created and different architectures gain popularity. The Ruby community is looking towards Elixir, a language based on the Erlang VM – and the language that helped WhatsApp build their product. As an app owner you’re probably wondering which language to choose for your new project. This article will explain the pros and cons of both Ruby and Elixir.

In spring 2019 the version 6.0 will arrive. It triggered a reflection on the direction of Rails. The sixth version is on the horizon with changes that are exciting but also safe for business – a lot has changed since version 1.0. Version 1.0 was released in December 2005. The Rails core team is aligned with the business needs on the market better than ever. What does it mean in practice and what does it mean for the future of creating digital products?

If you’re following the trends in Ruby on Rails, you’ve probably heard the word ‘service’ a few times, or perhaps even encountered it in code that lives in the app/services directory. In this post I’ll try to clarify what a service is, when it’s useful, and the different kinds of services I’ve used previously.

Rising Sun Energy Center is a non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California that runs programs addressing climate change and reducing unemployment. The company were looking for a Ruby on Rails development company to help them update and improve an application managing one of their key programs: the Green HouseCall service.

What are the main characteristics of a good payment processor? It’s simple to implement, easy to test, fast, secure, and covers a wide range of payment options. Stripe might not have the widest reach in terms of the number of countries, but with all the other characteristics it stands out against the competition. It also offers an excellent omni-channel payment experience with a smooth user onboarding. PayPal still holds 75 percent of the market, but with Stripe’s growing popularity, it’s worth considering the latter. It might not be as well-known as PayPal, but outstrips it in many respects.

Currently, more and more applications have dynamic content. Users expect apps to be engaging, responsive and fast. If you want to live up to these expectations you will need a proven technology on the backend with interactive framework on the frontend. Otherwise, users might get discouraged from using your app and move to a competitor. Having tested many combinations we’ve found a great solution for quick development of dynamic applications. What’s our secret?

Selecting a technology in which you will develop a web app is a challenge that every product or business owner has to face. If you make the right choice, it will give you a solid base for growth and expansion. If you choose wrong though, it may cost you an arm and a leg.

Node.js and Ruby on Rails (RoR) are two popular server-side solutions for web application development. Despite the fact that both environments can manage apps of any complexity they are built around different concepts and architectures. Let's take a look your options: 

Julia Hatton, Director of Youth Programs at Rising Sun Energy Center, a non-profit working to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities.

In the previous parts of the Phoenix series, I wrote about Phoenix framework models and migrations, in particular about how they compare to models and migrations in Rails and also about the first steps in Phoenix. In today’s blog post, I would like to tell you a little bit about the whole lifecycle of a request: from the moment it’s sent by a web browser to receiving a response from the same client. The whole lifecycle can be described in nine steps: