When it comes to Web application technology, Ruby on Rails (RoR) is one of the most popular frameworks. Although it is one of the oldest frameworks, is still considered one of the stable and great frameworks to build the most elegant and user-engaging websites with rich features. Because of its simplicity and efficiency, Ruby on Rails has been described as the “ideal startup technology,” with over 4 million websites and web platforms presently using it.

And the entire credit for the popularity of this framework goes to its unique functionality known as the Ruby on Rails Gem, which enables the creation of rapid mockups and testing which allows effortless coding and hence faster product development.

What are Ruby on Rails gems?

Ruby on Rails gems are libraries that enable developers to add new functionalities without writing code. They work in the same way as a plugin, allowing it to work alongside any feature such as authorization, authentication, testing, and payment processing.

This blog will walk you through some of the best Ruby on Rails gems you can use in your own web app development process. Each of these will facilitate your development process and can perform various functions depending on your project’s requirements.

1. Devise

Devise is a powerful and flexible authentication framework for Rails used to make the authentication process easier. For example, If you’re developing an eCommerce solution or building an application on one of the social media networks, the developer will need to provide authorization and authentication for the specific application.

Some programmers prefer to use their own code for this, some do it in Ruby, and Devise is the ideal gem for the job. Devise is a Ruby on Rails gem that contains 20 + modules, including Omniauthable, Database Authenticatable, Registrable, Confirmable, Lockable, Trackable, Recoverable, Rememberable, Timeoutable, FriendlyId, and Validatable.

Features: password recovery, remember me functionality, and user registration.

2.CarrierWave

CarrierWave is a file upload framework for Rails that supports a range of storage options, including Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Dropbox.

When developing a web application, developers ensure that users can post or share files of various types, such as images, audio documents, and videos. However, when it comes to images, there is no other helpful gem besides CarrierWave. CarrierWave is an image processor and files uploader that resizes and adjusts the corners of images. CarrierWave also processes and caches files so that users can rapidly analyze posted text files or extract EXIF data.

3. Active Admin:

ActiveAdmin is a popular administration framework for Rails that provides a customizable and management-style interface for managing your application’s data. This RoR gem extracts business application designs and simplifies the creation of appealing and rich interfaces for software developers with minimum effort.

Its features includes User authentication, global navigation, sidebar sections, Scopes, action items, filters, downloads, APIs, and index styles.

ActiveAdmin is a popular administration framework for Rails that provides a customizable interface for managing your application’s data.

4. CanCanCan

CanCanCan is an authorization framework for Rails that allows you to define permissions for users and groups.

For complex web applications, Cancancan is the ideal choice for developers. This Ruby framework enables users to have various rules but developers have to restrict what resources a given user is allowed to access. This gem restricts the access of users and manages every other thing in one place only.

5. RSpec

RSpec is a fantastic and extremely popular Rails Gem, that allows you to write unit tests in a more expressive and readable way specifically in BDD or TDD environments. It is extremely useful for evaluating the behavior of specific models or libraries. Its primary advantage is that it is simple to use and can be run by installing configuration files or spec helpers.

6. Grape (used for API)

Grape is a flexible and powerful API framework for Rails that allows you to quickly build RESTful APIs with minimal configuration.

Grape is a Rubygems-based REST-like API platform. It was created and designed especially to operate on Rack or complement existing web applications such as Sinatra and Rails. It provides a simple DSL for developing RESTful APIs quickly and simply. The Grape has built-in support for standard conventions, varied formats, subdomain restriction, versioning, content negotiation, and so on.

7. Sidekiq

Sidekiq is a background processing framework for Rails that allows you to execute tasks asynchronously, reducing your application’s response time.

Sidekiq gem is one of the most effective tools of Ruby for background processing. It is supported by the Redis library which helps developers in multiple ways because of its multithreading capacities. These capabilities enhance the speed resulting in much faster background processing. The sidekiq gem correctly monitors jobs and frequently updates processing statuses, as well as the ability to implement jobs in parallel.

8. Pundit

Pundit is a lightweight authorization framework for Rails that provides a simple and intuitive way to manage permissions in your application. Pundit handles authentication through a simple API. It’s important here to understand that authorization is different from authentication. Authentication verifies that you are who you say you are, whereas authorization verifies that you have permission to perform an action.

During the authorization procedure, a device will examine a user’s credentials to ensure that the client they’re using is authorized to perform certain actions or access certain features. Pundit operates within this cycle, allowing you to restrict access to specific sections of your application to approved users.

9. Paperclip

TWorking with file attachments can be daunting because it requires a significant amount of effort and time for the developers to make safe use of the assignment.

This is where the Paperclip framework comes as a rescue. Paperclip is a file attachment framework for Rails that allows you to attach files to your models with minimal configuration. It monitors the entire procedure in Ruby applications very closely. A paperclip can also transform images into thumbnails for use in custom Rails app development.

10. ActiveRecord::QueryRecorder:

ActiveRecord::QueryRecorder is a debugging tool for Rails that allows you to log and analyze database queries in real time, helping you to identify and fix performance issues in your application.

End Note:

This list only includes a few of the best Ruby on Rails gems for developing web applications and other software projects. Keep in mind that this is a subjective selection based on our RoR gem experience. However, there are thousands more gems to choose from and this diversity of gems makes the Ruby programming language one of the most versatile, allowing you to save time and money in your application development process.

Hire Ruby on Rails developers to assist you in developing the app, and they will surely use these gems during the development process. It is critical to use gems correctly when developing a reliable web app.

Additionally, all you need is a competent team of developers who will use these gems in an effective & wise manner and we can be your one-stop destination.

At Tecorb Technologies, we have a team of expert developers who can use Ruby on Rails to give the best results.