Ruby on Rails vs. Django

Ruby on Rails and Django are two leading web frameworks popularly used in web development. This tutorial discusses which framework is more suitable for the project and defines the advantages and disadvantages.

These frameworks share lots of similarities, but each has unique features on its way. Both are written in the dynamic programming language and are object-oriented. Here is the question, which one is the best framework for your project?

Certainly, the best way to choose is according to the project environment and how they can meet the features of each software. We will explain both frameworks' features in detail.

What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby and Rail is an open-source web framework written on the Ruby programming language under MIT license. The first version was released 16 years ago. The latest version is Rails 6.0.3.4, which was released on 7 October 2020. It is a server-side framework that follows the MVC (Model View Controller).

Ruby on rails is popular of its "convention over configuration," which means that Rails provide many defaults features that we can modify later. For example, it decides the folder structure automatically (where to put your controller or view template).

Ruby on Rails also provides some excellent integration for scheduling background jobs (Active job), an ORM (Object Relationship Mapper), a wrapper for sending e-mails (ActionMaker). It also comes with the file stores (AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, and others) called ActiveStorage.

Despite having many defaults for database, web service, and file storage, we don't need to go through each step.

Advantages of Ruby and Rails

Ruby on Rails is a quality, scalable, secure, and popular web development framework. It provides many features that make it famous among developers. The following are the advantages of Ruby on Rails.

Cost Effective

Ruby on Rails is an open-source framework means 100% free and runs on Linux which is also an open-source framework. There are many features available, so developers don't need to write complex code and it save the plenty of developers' time.

We can create great quality website easily without spending hard earned money.

Built on Model-View-Controller (MVC) Architecture

A web application has three interconnected layers of architecture. The developers write the code that work on the application data. It centralizes the business logic of the application and the rules to manipulate the data. It includes HTML, PDF, XML, RSS, and other formats. The controller acts as bridge between models and views.

Secure

Ruby on Rail follows the secure development lifecycle, and some security measures are built within the framework. It has a huge community that is actively working to spot and patch new vulnerabilities.

Performance

It provides excellent performance, and it optimizes the code very efficiently. A web application can have lots of computation or data handling so that Rails could slow down the application. However, an effective code optimization technique can make the application smooth.

Flexibility

Web applications use the frontend and backend capabilities of Rails. We can create easily, but the application needs to communicate to the server to load the web page.

Large Community

It has a vast community worldwide, and it is one of the most popular programming languages on Github. The community is head toward improving code and serving others on their projects.

If you are stuck anywhere while coding, you can find the solution over the forum. There is a chance someone else has already built something similar before or is willing to help you fix any issue.

Disadvantages of Ruby on Rails

Every coin has two sides. Along with some excellent advantages Ruby on Rails also comes with the few demerits. Below are some important disadvantages that you should keep in mind while choosing it for your project.

Run Time Speed and Performance

It is the most frequent argument against Ruby on Rails. The other frameworks (nodes and Django) are indeed faster than the RoR. It is a slow runtime speed, which makes them harder to scale web applications.

Huge cost of wrong decision in development

If we choose the wrong architecture during the initial stage of the project, we might cost more in Rails than in another framework. An inexperienced team might make unobvious mistakes that will erode our application's application. In RoR, all components are tightly coupled and depend on each other.

Hard to create APIs

It might be problematic to create APIs with Ruby on Rails. It has varying quality and standard of documentation and a slow runtime speed. There is also a lack of structured information so that users won't find the solution of complex problem

Lack of Proper Documentation

Ruby on Rails doesn't have proper documentation. Good documentation plays an excellent role in finding a common solution. Since reading the documentation is not necessary for experienced developers, they need to study the code.

What is Django?

Django is a high-level web framework that is written in Python. It was released in 2005 and developed by the Django Software Foundation.

This framework is battery-included and used for developing rich applications. It follows the MVT architecture for rapid web development. Many technology giants such as Mozilla, Instagram, Bitbucket, Pinterest, etc., are using the Django framework.

It comes with the built-in database support SQLite. The primary aim of the Django is to provide a fast development environment, which helps developers create an application in a shorter period

Advantages of Django

Django is the most popular framework nowadays because of its excellent advantages. Below are some interesting advantages of Django.

Provides Rapid Development

Rapid development means the developer doesn't need to know about the backend details to make a fully functioning website. It cuts off the complex coding to build something from scratch. Django provides the built-in admin panel, so we don't need to make it from scratch, and it also provides the built-in support of SQLite. So we don't need to write typical SQL queries. Instead, we can use the Django models.

Excellent Documentation

It is one of the best features of Django, which motivates to learn it. It offers the best documentation as compared to other available technologies. As a result, users can easily find the solution of their problems. It also helps to utilize the technology.

SEO Optimized

SEO (Search engine optimization) is key factor in website ranking. Django comes with the SEO optimize feature that helps to make the web pages browser and user friendly.

High Scalability

Scalability term refers to what level of technology gets implemented. Many tech giants use Django. A famous photo-sharing platform Instagram uses Django. Django provides a system that can handle complex data without any system failure.

Disadvantages of Django

Despite being written in Python, Django has some disadvantages. Let's understand the following demerits of Django.

ORM system lacks features

Django ORM provides the facility to work with the several databases and perform queries in pythonic way. But it lacks some essential features, which are available in the other ORM systems.

Components are depended on each other

Most web framework keeps their component loosely coupled so that developer can modify independently. Unfortunately, components are tightly coupled in Django that force developers to install all of them simultaneously.

Bad at handling multiple requests at same time

As we know, Django is a trending and modern framework, but it cannot handle the multiple requests at the same time. Many frameworks including Java combines these processes to cut down development time.

Difference between Ruby on Rails and Django

Below are the main difference between Django and RoR.

Parameters	Ruby on Rails	Django
Language	RoR is an open-source framework written in Ruby.	Django is an open-source framework written in Python.
Architecture	It follows the Model View Controller (MVC).	It follows the Model View Template (MVT).
Usage	It is used to develop database backend application and metaprogramming.	It is used to develop rich and complex database-driven website.
Speed and Performance	RoR is slightly faster than Django because it has the advantage of a rich repository of excellent libraries.	Django Rest Framework provides the excellent performance boost.
Stability	RoR provides a convenient approach for the reuse of code and minimizes the dependencies.	Django practices a more conventional approach by sticking to any proven method.
Syntax	RoR's syntax is much flexible as compared to Django, and sometimes it can create problems and make it harder to pass a project to other team.	Its syntax is easy to read and debug.
Documentation of Framework	Documentation of Ruby on Rails is less effective than Django.	Django comes with detailed and well-structured documentation. Anyone learn Django's concept in detail using its documentation.
Community	It has huge community of developers.	It has a small community of developers.
Static files	It serves the static files as they are configured.	It provided the built-in configuration for static files.
Web Servers	It uses the NGINX, Apache, and WEBrick as the prominent servers.	The main servers of Django are NGIX using WSGI, Apache, Gunicorn, and Cherokee.

Conclusion

We have had a detailed explanation of the Django and Ruby on Rails frameworks, and both are top of their category. Nevertheless, there are few specific areas where one supersedes the other.

Suppose we require a rich web application that includes high-quality features, then Django is the most appropriate framework for us. However, if we are looking for a quick launch and then work on the detail of the websites, then Ruby and Rails is best. So, first of all, understand the project requirement and then move on to the appropriate frameworks.

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