At the moment, there are a huge number of programming languages, each of which has its own characteristics and patterns. This article will focus on one of them.
History of Ruby
Ruby as a programming language has been around for a very long time. Work on the first edition of this incredibly popular language today began in the distant 1993, and the first official version dates back to 1995. The creator of the language, Yukihiro Matsumoto, has been a programming enthusiast since his student days, but he came up with the idea of creating his own instrument much later. So what is so remarkable about this programming language that today it occupies one of the leading positions in the global arena of software development?
The Ruby programming
language is a high-level
interpreted language with
dynamic typing and a
runtime -independent multithreading implementation. It has its own garbage collector, and in terms of syntax features it is closest to languages such as Perl. With the development of the ecosystem, this platform also borrowed a lot from Smalltalk, Python, Lisp, and other programming languages. It is also very important for the existence and continuous development that the Ruby language and its implementation are completely free. This means that anyone can suggest their changes, and if they are accepted by the community, they will enter the next version of the language.
Ruby Philosophy
When creating his brainchild, Matsumoto, as a devoted fan and enthusiast of object-oriented programming, created a certain philosophy for programmers who want to learn his language. So, the Ruby programming language is designed to create simple, but at the same time understandable applications. The main emphasis of Ruby is not on the speed of the program, but on the simplicity and readability of the code.
Therefore, this platform is very often chosen as an input for learning programming. The main principle on which this language is based is the so-called principle of “least surprise” - this means that the program should behave as the author (programmer) expects from it. Another important part of the ideology of language that the creator introduced is its great variability. The same result can be achieved in various ways and functions. Thanks to this, every programmer can solve the problem as he considers it most correctly and conveniently. This has largely affected the popularity of the language among professionals in the field of information technology.
The main characteristics of the language
What is Ruby as a programming language? This is primarily an object-oriented language. There are no primitive types in it - all data structures and units are objects (unlike the same Java language, it has primitive data structures). Each function in Ruby is a method. Many properties and capabilities were introduced by creators from other programming languages, so we can safely say that Ruby (the language) has incorporated the best from many other languages and technologies.
So, for example, the Ruby ecosystem has its own garbage collector, the idea of which was adopted from Smalltalk and Java, and which can work with all objects in the system. This mechanism makes it possible for the application and the developer to clear the memory of objects that will no longer be in demand. The garbage collector allows the developer in most cases not to be distracted by the application's memory management, but to focus on functionality and usability.
Tongue paradigms
Answering the question about what is “Ruby” as a multi-paradigm language, you may unexpectedly find yourself in the heat of a dispute. After all, this language allows you to use any of the programming paradigms equally successfully: a procedural programming style, an object-oriented or functional approach. The developer is free to choose for himself that paradigm that is closer to him, and his set of tools from this will not become more limited or weaker. The Ruby programming language only encourages this choice.
Reasons for popularity
In many ways, this language has become popular due to the simplicity of developing various additions to it. Therefore, the number of frameworks and libraries is constantly growing, and the tasks that they solve independently allow developers to bring the product to a state of readiness as soon as possible. Very often, Ruby programming is associated with the development of web applications and the support of various sites and Internet platforms. The language has occupied this niche due to its simplicity and speed of development. After all, alternative platforms (for example, Java) require much more knowledge and experience to solve the same problems.
Popular frameworks
If we talk about the popular frameworks that exist on the market today, then among them it is worth highlighting Rails. Many people, when asked what “Ruby” is, intuitively imply RubyOnRails. This set of software components has become the industry standard among developers. It is constantly supported, developed and supplemented by a community of programmers, while remaining free. This framework describes the components of a web application within the framework of the MVC (Model-View-Controller) template, and also provides ready-made integration with the application server and an interface for accessing the database. These 3 components, in fact, allow you to write and launch a simple blog or private web page on the Internet in a matter of hours.
You can even create native mobile applications in the Ruby programming language, thanks to the RubyMotion library. It allows you to execute Ruby code on iOS, OS X, and Android. It was created by a private group of developers, so you have to pay for its use, but it once again confirms the rich capabilities of the language.
The Importance of Writing Tests
Another important component of the ecosystem of the Ruby language, and its web-oriented part, are the frameworks and libraries for writing tests. RubyOnRails preaches the philosophy of BDD (behavior-driven development), which means that the programmer first creates a sequence of tests that describe the expected behavior of the program, and then creates code that must pass these tests successfully. An unspoken standard in this area is RSpec - this framework allows you to write test cases in a way that is understandable even to inexperienced users in development.
Ruby gems
Thanks to the detailed description of the standard that all Ruby packages and libraries must comply with, the development of add-ons is not difficult. Therefore, among the so-called gems (from the English - a gem), you can find modules for solving almost any task - from integration with social networks and third-party services to ready-made platforms for e-commerce. All you need to use a third-party library is to describe the dependence of your project on some library located in a remote or local repository, and the next time you build this library, it will automatically load into the application. It also simplifies project migration between developers, since there is no need to manually share dependencies to build the project.
Therefore, if you are again asked about what “Ruby” is, then you can confidently say that it is a powerful and versatile programming language that is likely to be suitable for experienced developers as well as for beginners who want to learn the difficult craft of programming. It will find the means to create any application - from desktop programs to mobile services and web platforms.