Ruby on Rails, often simply termed as Rails, is a widely popular open-source web application development framework written in the Ruby programming language. Leveraged by large-scale websites including GitHub, Airbnb, and Hulu, it has become a highly sought-after skill in the job market due to its emphasis on productive programming, simplicity, and coding efficiency.
The strength of Ruby on Rails lies within its guiding principles, collectively known as 'The Rails Doctrine'. Two of its main principles are 'Don't Repeat Yourself' (DRY) which promotes the robustness of codes by avoiding redundancy, and 'Convention Over Configuration' which reduces programmers' need to spend a significant amount of time configuring files for setup, leveraging pre-set conventions to speed up the development process.
Mastering Ruby on Rails requires a proficiency in Ruby programming language, as well as a sound understanding of web development principles and familiarity with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Additionally, knowledge of SQL or other database interaction languages can prove beneficial because Rails is often used to build database-backed web applications.
Understanding of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern is critical as Rails follows this structure, which aids in maintaining a clean separation of concerns between the user interface, the database, and other parts of the application.
Testing skills are also essential since Rails promotes test-driven development (TDD). This approach firstly creates a failing test case then produces minimal codes to pass the test, and later refactors the new code to applicable standards. Therefore, knowledge of Rails testing frameworks, like RSpec or MiniTest, can be a great asset.
If you're looking to learn or master Rails, it's a good idea to start with a basic understanding of programming concepts. You can then proceed to learn Ruby, which is known for its elegant and highly readable syntax, before delving into principles of web development and finally diving into Rails. This process, supported by the myriad of available online resources and helpful Rails communities, can pave the way to proficiently learning this valuable tech skill.