Should I Learn RoR in 2021?
Tags: ruby, webdev
Published: 2020-12-18 09:32:42

*To know more about RoR, check a detailed guide [Everything You Need to Know about Ruby on Rails Web Application Framework](https://railsware.com/blog/ruby-on-rails-guide)*

A short answer: YES
A little bit developed answer: Yes, you should try at least.

It can be tough to make up your mind about the next framework to learn with so many available options. Depending on your interests, RoR may be one of the best on the list. Why? Let’s see.

### Community
There’s a vibrant community around it, and over [4.2k contributors to the RoR GitHub page](https://github.com/rails/rails) (the hugely popular Django, Laravel, or ReactJS don’t even have half of that). The RoR community is active and known for being very open and helpful to newcomers.

### Easiness
It’s relatively easy to learn, especially if you already know JavaScript or a similar framework. The language is expressive, and the syntax is clean and easy to comprehend.

### Quickness
It’s quick to work with, and with the abundance of resources, you can deliver things in no time. Incredibly helpful if you’re planning to work on your own prototypes or pet projects.

### Product-oriented approach
Working with RoR inevitably means working closely with products. RoR teams are often found in startups, and they’re small and focused. Engineers are often exposed to customer insights and gain a deeper understanding of the product. This can be an invaluable experience if product management is your field of interest.

### Paycheck
Coding in Ruby also pays well. According to the [2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey](https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#overview), Ruby was among the frameworks guaranteeing the highest paycheck.

### Logic
Rails does many things with logical conventions, so you can focus on the core of your application. The code is clean and easy to understand and maintain. “It’s just fun to use” was a widespread response when we asked our devs why they love coding in Rails.

## When not to choose RoR?
When should you opt for one of the Ruby alternatives instead of choosing RoR? Whichever way you go, you’ll need to have a general understanding of JavaScript along with HTML/CSS to become a successful web developer. For this reason, if you’re just getting started, picking up JS may be the right approach.

If Rails appealed to you with its MVC architecture but something else didn’t quite match, ReactJS could be a viable alternative. It’s trendy, quickly growing, and is undoubtedly in demand. The same can be said about Laravel, which has grown a fantastic community around it and provides tons of resources for those just getting started.

If you always want to be on top of the latest technology trends, you can’t overlook Python and its most popular framework, Django. It offers a rich ecosystem and an abundance of features that simplify development. Many of them came from Rails and enhanced it, quickly becoming some of the all-time favorites.

Among other popular options, Java-based Spring and a JS family of Angular, Vue.js, and Express should certainly not be overlooked.

*This post was originally published by my colleague Piotr Malek on [Railsware blog](https://railsware.com/blog)*