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Building scalable web applications is critical for any Ruby on Rails project. Scalability ensures our application can handle increasing loads and continue to perform well as your user base grows. Here are ten essential best practices to help you build scalable Ruby on Rails applications.

1. Use the Right Gems

Choosing the right gems can significantly impact your application's performance and scalability. Avoid using too many gems, as they can bloat your application and increase load times. Stick to well-maintained, popular gems that are optimized for performance. Some recommended gems for scalability include:

- Puma: A fast, multi-threaded web server for Ruby/Rack applications.

- Sidekiq: Efficient background job processing for handling asynchronous tasks.

- Active Model Serializers: Optimizes JSON serialization, which is crucial for API performance.

We use these Puma gem in our applications that help us handle a large user base.

Sidekiq gem is used to run background jobs where we process thousands of user data without interrupting the usual user activities. This is supported along with redis.

Our experience: processing a large user data

We had a task in hand for a fantasy gaming project, which required us to calculate scores of thousands of users on their multiple line ups for a fantasy gaming platform. We were able to achieve this by using Sidekiq gem by batching the score calculation jobs in redis and processing them in sidekiq which runs the processes in multiple threads to calculate the score and to provide uninterrupted service to current user activities on the server.

2. Optimize Database Queries

Efficient database queries are vital for maintaining performance as your application scales. Follow these tips to optimize your queries:

- Use Indexes: Index frequently queried columns to speed up search operations.

- Eager Load Associations: Use `includes` to load associated records in a single query, reducing N+1 query problems.

- Avoid SELECT * Queries: Specify only the fields you need to reduce data transfer and memory usage.

Some of the best optimization practices we follow in our projects are to check for any query that might be delaying an API response and try to address it as quickly as possible. Most of the time this could  be a query running inside a loop.

This can be easily eliminated by using a variable to save an indexed object of a desired key using a single query outside the loop and simply referencing the index from the variable wherever necessary.

Our experience: Exponential improvement in response and processing times

In one of our applications with a large user base, there was very slow response time. We identified the issue on less optimum queries and querying techniques.
We were able to reduce the response time up to 60% by using optimized queries and indexing the database columns when and where they were frequently used to filter data.

Adding to this we used batching of processes to make our processing more efficient and resilient. Which resulted in a reliable application to handle large volumes of data and user requests. 

3. Implement Caching

Caching can drastically reduce load times and server load. Ruby on Rails offers several caching mechanisms:

- Fragment Caching: Cache parts of your views to avoid rendering them repeatedly.

- Page Caching: Cache entire pages for static content.

- Action Caching: Cache the output of entire controller actions.

Leverage caching to store frequently accessed data and reduce the load on your database and server.

4. Background Jobs and Asynchronous Processing

Background jobs allow you to offload time-consuming tasks to be processed asynchronously. This improves user experience and application performance. Use background job frameworks like Sidekiq or Resque to handle tasks such as:

- Sending emails

- Processing file uploads

- Data processing

Ensure that your background jobs are idempotent and can handle failures gracefully.

To ensure our background jobs are reliable and resilient we practice batch processing.

Processing data in batches enables us  to recover and retry the batches in case of failure instead of retrying the whole process. 

This also helps us to reduce the load on servers as the data is processed in batch to reduce the chance of failures.

Our experience: Making background jobs more resilient 

In one of our applications which processes large chunks of data, we found some of the data to have not been processed. This was not a logical issue in code as there was other correct information coming from the code. 

Upon investigation we found the issue was with the background processor not able to handle the large data set which was given to it. We handled it effectively with batching the process to lower the load on the server and since the batch we have had very reliable operations of our application.

5. API Rate Limiting and Throttling

Rate limiting protects your application from abuse and ensures fair usage of resources. Implement rate limiting to control the number of requests a user can make within a given time frame. You can use gems like **Rack::Attack** to set up rate limiting and throttling rules for your APIs.

We can set a number for requests that can be made from a single IP address per minute and this prevents any single user or potentially bots from overwhelming our systems.

Our experience: Securing from DDoS attacks

In one of our recent projects, we audited and found the vulnerability of a DDoS attack, which could overwhelm our Ruby on Rails application with excessive requests. To mitigate this, we implemented rate limiting using the **Rack::Attack** gem. We configured Rack::Attack to limit the number of requests from a single IP address per minute, effectively preventing any single user or bot from overloading our system. This approach successfully protected our application from abuse, ensuring fair resource usage and maintaining system stability.

6. Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

CDNs improve the delivery speed of your assets by distributing them across multiple servers worldwide. Using a CDN reduces the load on your server and decreases latency for users. Configure your Rails application to serve static assets (images, CSS, JavaScript) via a CDN for better performance.

7. Security Best Practices

Security is paramount in any scalable application. Follow these best practices to secure your Rails application:

- Use Strong Parameters: Protect against mass assignment vulnerabilities.

- Sanitize Inputs: Prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

- Encrypt Sensitive Data: Use Rails' built-in encryption to protect sensitive information.

Regularly update your gems and Rails version to benefit from security patches and improvements.

Our experience: Securing the application

In a recent project for an entertainment business company, we enhanced our Ruby on Rails application's security by implementing several best practices. We used Strong Parameters to prevent mass assignment vulnerabilities and sanitized all user inputs to guard against SQL injection and XSS attacks. Additionally, we encrypted sensitive data using Rails' built-in encryption methods. Regularly updating our gems and Rails version ensured we benefited from the latest security patches and improvements. This comprehensive approach significantly strengthened our application's security, protecting it from various threats and ensuring the safety of user data.

8. Effective Testing Strategies

Automated testing ensures your application remains stable and scalable as you add new features. Use testing frameworks like RSpec or Minitest to write comprehensive tests:

- Unit Tests: Test individual models and methods.

- Integration Tests: Test interactions between different parts of your application.

- Performance Tests: Identify and address performance bottlenecks.

Ensure you have a robust CI/CD pipeline to run tests automatically.

Our experience: Integrated testing strategies

In one of our projects, we incorporated these tests into a robust CI/CD pipeline, which ran tests automatically during deployment. This practice ensured our code worked as expected and maintained application integrity with every change. By creating spec files alongside development changes, we continuously validated our application's functionality and performance.

It is good practice for Ruby on Rails companies to create spec files alongside development changes to run tests during deployment, ensuring the code functions as expected.

9. Monitoring and Performance Tuning

Monitoring helps you identify and address performance issues before they affect your users. Use monitoring tools like **New Relic** or **Scout** to track key performance metrics:

- Response times

- Database query performance

- Error rates

In all our projects we regularly review and optimize your application based on monitoring data.

We always make it a habit to check the response time of each and every end point while developing in order to fill the gaps of optimization as and where required.

This also helps us to produce highly scalable applications which can cater to the users without any compromise in the performance.

10. Deploying and Scaling with Cloud Providers

Deploying your Rails application on cloud platforms like AWS or Heroku provides scalability and reliability. Follow these best practices for cloud deployment:

- Use Auto-Scaling: Automatically adjust server capacity based on traffic.

- Implement Load Balancing: Distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers.

- Use Managed Databases: Leverage managed database services for automated backups, scaling, and maintenance.

Configure your infrastructure as code (IaC) using tools like Terraform or CloudFormation for reproducibility and scalability.

Our experience: Auto scaling applications

All our production applications are designed to scale up and scale down depending on the resource utilization. We set rules set in cloud services which monitor the resources and when the resources reach a certain threshold the services will scale up to provide uninterrupted experience to the end users regardless of the traffic.

This has been reliable in having uninterrupted service and also cost effective when we scale down during low traffic hours.

Conclusion

Building scalable Ruby on Rails applications requires a combination of best practices, efficient tools, and careful planning. By implementing these ten best practices, you can ensure your application is prepared to handle growth and deliver a seamless experience to your users. Stay updated with the latest Rails features and continuously optimize your application to maintain scalability.

With Techjays, you can build your web applications in just a few clicks. Get in touch with us today.

10 Essential Ruby on Rails Best Practices for Building Scalable Web Applications
Aravind Krishna

10 Essential Ruby on Rails Best Practices for Building Scalable Web Applications

Building scalable web applications is critical for any Ruby on Rails project. Scalability ensures our application can handle increasing loads and continue to perform well as your user base grows. Here are ten essential best practices to help you build scalable Ruby on Rails applications.

Ionic Mobile App Development – Introduction

Ionic, powered by web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, has gained significant popularity as a framework for developing cross-platform mobile applications. While iconic mobile app development allows developers to create apps for multiple platforms, it offers robust support for iOS app development.

How mobile applications are built is a question that pops into a layman’s head and a more aligned professional can ask about how they are built for various platforms.

Ionic is an open-source framework that enables developers to build cross-platform mobile applications using web technologies. It combines HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create native-like mobile app experiences. Iconic mobile app development offers a wide range of UI components, pre-designed themes, and tools for building mobile apps that can run on iOS, Android, and web platforms.

Key Features of Ionic Mobile App Development

1. Cross-Platform Compatibility: One of Ionic’s primary advantages is its ability to build apps that work seamlessly on multiple platforms, including iOS. Developers can write code once and deploy it on iOS, Android, and the web, reducing development time and effort.

2. UI Components and Themes: Ionic provides a comprehensive library of UI components and pre-designed themes, making it easy to create visually appealing and consistent app interfaces across different platforms. Developers can customize these components to match their app’s branding and design requirements.

3. Cordova Plugins Integration: Ionic integrates with Cordova, allowing developers to access a wide range of native device features and functionalities through Cordova plugins. This enables the Iconic mobile app development leverage iOS-specific capabilities like camera, geolocation, contacts, and more.

4. Angular Integration: Ionic is built on top of Angular, a popular JavaScript framework for building web applications. The integration with Angular provides a structured development environment, powerful data binding, and the ability to create complex app logic using Angular’s features.

5. Capacitor: Capacitor is a native runtime that powers Ionic apps and provides access to native APIs. It allows developers to build web-based UIs with Ionic and then deploy them as native iOS apps. Capacitor supports advanced features like push notifications, background tasks, and app indexing.

6. Live Reload and Dev Server: Ionic offers a live reload feature that allows developers to see instant changes in the app as they modify the code. Additionally, the built-in dev server enables developers to test their app on multiple devices simultaneously during the development process.

Advantages of Ionic Mobile App Development

1. Code Reusability: With Ionic mobile app development, developers can write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms, including iOS. This eliminates the need to maintain separate codebases for different platforms, saving time and effort while maintaining consistency across platforms.

2. Native-like UI: Ionic’s pre-designed UI components and themes provide a native-like look and feel on iOS devices. This helps in creating consistent and visually appealing app interfaces that match the design guidelines of iOS.

3. Web Technologies: By leveraging web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Ionic allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills and knowledge. This makes it easier for web developers to transition into iOS app development.

4. Rapid Prototyping: Ionic’s simplicity and easy-to-use tools enable rapid prototyping. Developers can quickly build functional prototypes, gather user feedback, and iterate on app features, speeding up the development cycle.

5. Large Comunity and Ecosystem: Ionic has a large and active community of developers, providing a wealth of resources, tutorials, plugins, and libraries. This strong community support ensures developers have access to a wide range of solutions and assistance.

Use Cases for Ionic Mobile App Development

1. Minimum Viable Products (MVPs): Ionic Mobile App Development capabilities and cross-platform compatibility make it an excellent choice for building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and prototypes. It allows developers to quickly validate ideas and gather user feedback before investing in platform-specific development.

2. Multi-Platform Apps: Ionic Mobile App Development ability to create apps that run on iOS, Android, and the web with a single codebase makes it ideal for projects that target a broad audience across different platforms. This reduces time-to-market and development costs.

3. Hybrid Apps: Ionic Mobile App Development framework is well-suited for building hybrid apps that combine native components with web views. This allows developers to leverage the benefits of iOS-specific features while utilizing web technologies for the app’s UI and logic.

4. Internal Business Apps: Ionic Mobile App Development is a popular choice for developing internal business applications that need to run on multiple platforms, including iOS. It allows businesses to streamline iconic mobile app development efforts and maintain a consistent user experience across various devices.

Some well-known apps that have been built using the Ionic framework include:

Sworkit: A fitness app that offers customizable workout plans and exercises.

JustWatch: An app that helps users find where to watch movies and TV shows across various streaming platforms.

MarketWatch: A financial news app that provides real-time stock market data and news.

McDonald’s Turkey: The official McDonald’s app for Turkey, allowing users to order food and access promotions.

It’s always a good idea to explore recent sources and app stores for the latest information on iconic mobile app development frameworks and the apps built using them.

Conclusion

Today, in the mobile age, the use of apps is unprecedented. There are all kinds of mobile apps-from farm-based app to farm improvement to even techniques for stress management that let someone improve their well-being. No human need can better be expressed than mobile applications across this world.

Ionic Mobile App Development continues this revolution one step forward by allowing developers to design cross-platform applications using web technologies. It allows a native-like experience both on iOS, Android, and on the web, which will easily reach out to people using different devices and systems. A large set of UI components, pre-designed themes, and easy integration with tools like Angular and Cordova make Ionic all-rounded and efficient development.

Moreover, the inclusion of AI development services in the creation of mobile applications will lead to more efficient and usable apps. Artificial intelligence would allow developers to add a lot of features such as personalized recommendations, predictive analytics, and natural language processing, raising mobile applications to new dimensions of intelligence and adaptability.

Code reusability, native-like UI capabilities, and a huge developer community for support are some of the benefits that Ionic Mobile App Development provides. This framework supports fast and efficient production of quality applications that reach the broadest audience possible. With AI development services added to the strengths of Ionic, developers can build more intelligent and responsive applications that keep users interested and solve the complex problems.

We are here with innovative mobile app development driven by AI enhanced Ionic Mobile App Development services. Concept to launch, we craft apps that hold the fusion of today's cutting-edge technology, functionality, and aesthetics, bending your vision to reality. Let us build your brand, connect with your audience, and make the right digital impact with our skills in mobile and AI development services.

Building Cross-Platform Mobile Apps with Web Technologies – Ionic Mobile App Development
Jaina Jacob
July 22, 2024

Building Cross-Platform Mobile Apps with Web Technologies – Ionic Mobile App Development

Ionic, powered by web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, has gained significant popularity as a framework for developing cross-platform mobile applications. While iconic mobile app development allows developers to create apps for multiple platforms, it offers robust support for iOS app development.

Introduction

Web Applications using Vue.js – Looking to supercharge your web development projects with cutting-edge technology?
Discover how Vue.js, the popular JavaScript framework, can revolutionize your web application development by creating dynamic, responsive, and user-friendly web experiences.

Vue.js, developed by Evan You, has rapidly gained popularity among web developers due to its simplicity and versatility. It is a progressive JavaScript framework that empowers developers to build robust, interactive web applications. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting out, Vue.js offers a gentle learning curve and remarkable flexibility.

What are the Key Features and Benefits of building Web Applications using Vue.js

Vue.js is packed with features that streamline the development process and enhance the user experience.

Some of its key benefits include

  • Reactive Components: Vue.js leverages a reactive data-binding system, allowing for seamless synchronization between the data model and the UI components. This ensures instant updates and a smooth user experience.
  • Virtual DOM: By utilizing a virtual DOM, Vue.js optimizes rendering performance, resulting in faster and more efficient web applications.
  • Component-Based Architecture: Vue.js promotes the reusability of components, enabling developers to create modular and maintainable code. This accelerates development speed and facilitates collaboration within teams.
  • Lightweight Footprint: With a small file size, Vue.js offers faster load times, minimizing the impact on website performance.

Vue.js Use Cases

Vue.js is versatile and can be applied to a wide range of projects. Here are some common use cases where Vue js shines

  • Single-Page Applications (SPAs): Vue.js excels at building SPAs, providing a smooth and seamless user experience with its reactive components and intuitive routing system.
  • Progressive Web Applications (PWAs): Harnessing Vue.js, developers can create PWAs that deliver app-like experiences across multiple devices, even when offline.
  • User Interfaces (UI) Development: Vue.js offers extensive support for UI development, making it an ideal choice for creating visually appealing and responsive user interfaces.
  • Prototyping: Rapidly build interactive prototypes using Vue.js to validate concepts and gather feedback before moving into full-scale development.
    Visit VueJS website for more details

Why Choose Techjays for Vue.js Development?

At Techjays, we have a team of skilled developers proficient in Vue.js who can build web applications using Vue.js. Here’s why we are the perfect partner for your Vue.js projects:

  • Extensive Experience: With years of experience in web development, our team has successfully delivered numerous Vue.js projects across various industries.
  • Tailored Solutions: We understand that every project is unique. We work closely with our clients to analyze their requirements and develop customized solutions that align with their goals.
  • Quality Assurance: Our commitment to delivering top-notch results is reflected in our rigorous quality assurance process. We conduct thorough testing to ensure that your Vue.js application is robust and bug-free.
  • Ongoing Support: Our partnership doesn’t end with project completion. We provide continuous support and maintenance, ensuring that your Vue.js application stays up-to-date and performs optimally.


Our experienced team, combined with the power of Vue.js, will help you to create web Applications using Vue js that captivate your audience. Contact us today to start your Vue.js journey and witness the power of this remarkable JavaScript framework.

E-commerce Product Filter and Search

Vue.js can be employed to create an efficient and responsive product filter and search functionality for an e-commerce website. By building dynamic components that update in real time as users apply filters or enter search queries, Vue.js enhances the user experience, making it easy for shoppers to find and explore products that match their preferences. The reactivity of Vue.js ensures that product listings instantly reflect the selected filters or search terms, resulting in a seamless and engaging shopping journey.

To read more, click here

Building Dynamic Web Applications using Vue.js in 2024
Jaina Jacob
April 25, 2024

Building Dynamic Web Applications using Vue.js in 2024

Web Applications using Vue.js – Looking to supercharge your web development projects with cutting-edge technology? Discover how Vue.js, the popular JavaScript framework, can revolutionize your web application development by creating dynamic, responsive, and user-friendly web experiences.