5 Reasons Why You Should Use Ruby on Rails for Web Development Over PHP

PHP or Ruby on Rails – that’s the question that’s gripped developers in recent years, though the tide is definitely turning in favour of the latter. You may be surprised, considering some major websites run on PHP (such as CMS stalwarts like Drupal and Wordpress). So what’s the deal?

Ruby on Rails is superior in so many ways that we’d need to have a sit-down meeting to run through them all. Instead, we’re going to give you the top 5 reasons why it’s the superior solution for 2014 and beyond. You can always pop by our offices and hear about the rest!

The Framework is Mature

Ruby has the distinct advantage of being built on solid foundations – it’s much easier to get a high-end product online quickly and efficiently. Not only that, it beats PHP in its capability to support maintainable solutions that are build on solid code.

The mature framework also means that you can get your hands on juicy open source freebies that are extremely powerful. You’ll be surprised by how far you can get on things that have already been built with others – this doesn’t mean it’s all plug and play, but it does shave a decent amount off initial costs.

PHP Is Not Liked By Developers

The web development community has reached the end of its tether when it comes to PHP. Programmers simply find it frustrating to use. The reality is that most web developers prefer using Ruby on Rails these days.

It’s not just a matter of preference or what’s ‘hot’ right now. Ruby on Rails is superior and developers are making that clear by ditching PHP and switching over in droves.

PHP Makes It Easy to Write Bad Code

The problem with PHP is that it’s too easy to pick up. Its rules are relatively lax, meaning that you can get a simple web application up and running without much trouble. The problems crop up when you need to make alterations, when random bugs are caught, or when the project needs to be scaled or added to. Then it gets expensive and time consuming.

Ruby on Rails, on the other hand, makes it much harder to write bad code. It means that the chances of making a mess of it are minimised. While we’re not saying it’s impossible to write good code with PHP, it does let quite a lot of terrible samples through the door.

Ruby on Rails Has a Steep Learning Curve

Hold on a second – we can hear you say – I thought this was meant to be a list in favour of Ruby on Rails? How is a steep learning curve a positive feature?

This one ties into our point about PHP being too easy to pick up. When you know PHP can be done by anyone, it becomes much harder to discern whether you’re landing yourself a decent web developer or a hack that can just about piece things together. If you get the latter, prepare yourself for a world of hurt.

Ruby on Rails, on the other hand, has a learning curve that demands proper code and standards. You can’t get away with the same stuff you can do with PHP. This in turn means that a Ruby on Rails project is usually elegant, clean and extensible. This saves time, money and plenty of headaches in the long-term.

PHP Is No Longer Leading the Line

Around ten years ago, PHP was the language to go for when it came to web projects. We’re pretty sure that almost every cutting-edge start-up used PHP to power its website. But it’s not 2004 anymore.

PHP has since stagnated and is no longer the chosen path for innovative technologists. This means that if you want to be involved with the most advanced features and open-source code that is truly trailblazing, then Ruby on Rails is the way to go.

We’re not saying that you should simply opt for Ruby on Rails because it’s ‘cool’. Rather, we’re seeing a market shift that is reflecting the reality of the benefits of Ruby over PHP. We expect this trend to continue in the coming years – there’s no reason not to jump on the bandwagon.