Using Agile Development with Ruby on Rails

Many developers consider Ruby on Rails to go hand in hand with agile development. While agile is a process that can be utilized with any coding language, it’s well suited to the intuitive structure of Rails. Since Rails is easy to understand, clear and relatively standardized, lead Agile programmers will appreciate its qualities. In fact, looks at the core principles of Rails development show how compatible it is with Agile. We’ll run by each principle in turn to see how they work together so well:

Convention over Configuration

Rather than spending valuable team time on configuring an application, Rails allows you to immediately start working on the value-added parts of the code. With straightforward conventions, all team members can understand their role as well as collaborating without the need for intricate explanations. The default database entries follow the class structure in the application, making for a clear mapping between the various parts of the application.

In Agile development teams often work toward a shared goal and having the ability to clearly communicate standards make it much easier to properly configure the application.  Using more straightforward, tighter code means that application development can proceed more rapidly so you can focus on solving problems rather than explaining your work. This comes in particularly handy when new members enter the team for updates or re-deployments of an application.

Don’t Repeat Yourself

Having a centralized, clear information architecture means that database programmers and front-end coders can speak the same language. Rather than having to redefine class names to fit a DB schema, Ruby allows you to dive right into the more intricate parts of the coding process. Rails was built on the principle of least surprise which makes its naming conventions and structure easier to understand.

With a focus on clear, straightforward code Ruby is easier to learn and adapt to a variety of situations.  You can use common algebra and logic to perform operations, and it’s easy to distinguish between different types of arrays. There’s no need to duplicate efforts, which means that Agile is ideally suited for unique responsibilities among your team members.

Elegance through Simplicity

You won’t find yourself writing too much code with Rails since you can work with standardized configuration files. With less code you can focus on high value tasks and limit bugs that can come through simple operations. As a real object oriented language, Ruby has a straightforward class structure so there’s no need to try and figure out its core meanings. If you look at the company of the founder of Rails (37 Signals) you can see how the clear Model-View-Controller structure lends to clean, logical designs.

The architecture of the language is written for deployment, not just programming, so there’s a priority on front end design as well as the backend business and database logic. With a clean connection between your data structures and front end coding, the language almost becomes elegant. If you’re looking to build a clean application on the front and back end, then Ruby on Rails is an ideal choice for Agile teams.

External Links

• 3 Reasons to Select Ruby on Rails 2.0 to Achieve your Business Goals
• What is Ruby on Rails and Why Should I Use it for Web Applications
• Ruby on Rails & Agile Development

Related Books

• Agile Web Development with Rails (Paperback)
• Agile Web Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide (Paperback)
• Agile Testing with Ruby on Rails (Paperback)