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Ruby on Rails Fundamentals

Ruby on Rails is a web application framework written in Ruby. It organizes requests, application logic, database records, and HTML responses through conventions that reduce repeated setup.

itWeb development

Ruby on Rails is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby. A Rails application receives an HTTP request, matches it to a route, runs controller and model code, and returns a response. The framework supplies integrated libraries for database access, HTML rendering, email, background jobs, file uploads, real-time connections, testing, security controls, and deployment.

Rails is opinionated. It favors convention over configuration: predictable names and directory locations let the framework connect application parts without a separate mapping for every relationship. It also favors Don't Repeat Yourself, or DRY, so one fact has one authoritative representation. These principles reduce setup, but they make Rails conventions part of the programming model rather than optional style.

The request and response path

A typical browser request crosses several layers:

  1. The router compares the HTTP method and path with the routes in config/routes.rb.
  2. A matching route selects a controller action and extracts any route parameters.
  3. The controller reads permitted input, coordinates application work, and chooses a response.
  4. Models and other Ruby objects apply business rules. Active Record models can read or change relational database rows.
  5. For an HTML response, Action View evaluates a template and layout to produce the response body.
  6. Rails sends an HTTP status, headers, and body back through the web server.

A controller does not need to render HTML. It can redirect the client, return JSON, stream data, or send an empty status response. Rendering creates a response from the current request. Redirecting sends a 3xx response that asks the client to make another request.

Model, view, and controller responsibilities

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