How to Hire the Best Ruby on Rails Developers
When hiring a Ruby on Rails developer, recruiters and hiring managers must make an effort to know more about Ruby on Rails as well as the level of expertise they should look for to make a good hiring decision. In this comprehensive article, we will discuss some of the most essential information and answer critical questions to help you find the right Ruby on Rails developer.
First, let’s break down Ruby on Rails into two parts: Ruby, and Rails.
Ruby is a programming language while Rails (Ruby on Rails) is a framework that extends Ruby.
Ruby was created back in 1995; currently, it is among the top 10 programming languages. It is a dynamic, object-oriented, general-purpose scripting language that can be used to build high-quality applications.
In 2005, David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) created Ruby on Rails, a powerful library over the Ruby programming language. DHH took Ruby’s foundations and made a framework that is open-source, multi-purpose, extensible, and expandable. This became a breakthrough in web development, and Ruby on Rails became the most widely used framework in the Ruby language. Using this framework, developers can efficiently write code and minimise the time consumed in-app production.
Ruby on Rails is a server-side framework following the MVC pattern that places focus on the use of well-known software engineering patterns and paradigms. It is primarily used to build web apps and to code both the front-end and back-end of applications.
Ruby on Rails is famous for and preferred by many businesses and developers because of the speed and agility that they offer, which easily translates into high productivity and growth of the business. Some popular brands and names using Rails are Twitter, Shopify, Basecamp, and Wakeupsales.
Why should you hire a Ruby on Rails developers?
Ruby on Rails is a powerful web development tool, but you will not be able to get the most of this technology without a skilled Ruby on Rails developer in your team.
What advantages do you get when you hire a Ruby on Rails developer?
Faster development
Compared to other popular web frameworks, web development time with Ruby on Rails can be significantly reduced by 25-50%. This is made possible with Ruby’s object orientation, the modular design, extensive open-sourced code developed by the Rails community, as well as the multitude of ready-to-use plugin solutions.
Skilled Ruby on Rails developers for hire will be able to leverage these features to build your MVP fast. They also know how to access various ready-made plugins and modules from third-party libraries to add the features that you want—whether it be dashboards, user authentication, and other components.
One of the many advantages of a Ruby on Rails developer is that you can quickly check the feasibility of your product, fix any errors, and effectively mitigate risks.
Easy maintenance and updates
With Ruby on Rails, modifying the existing code and updating an application are made easy. Ruby is, in essence, an easy-to-read language; add to that Rails’ conventions, and team members can quickly pick up on everything.
Choosing a Ruby on Rails developer as a part for your web development project is a smart route to take because their knowledge about the framework helps refactor code long after it was developed and deployed. The cost of having new developers into a project as well as the learning curve is a crucial factor, especially for startups; this is one of the issues you will be able to avoid with Ruby on Rails as your framework and with highly-skilled a Ruby on Rails developer in your team.
Build quality products
Aside from saving you time and costs during the production, Ruby on Rails developers for hire can help build your web app with minimal risks. Developers proficient in working with Ruby on Rails can make use of the framework’s high-quality libraries to create applications that follow the principles of good development.
Moreover, a Ruby on Rails developer can also help you make your web apps and websites visually-appealing.
Build any product for any purpose
You know by now that Ruby is a general-purpose language and that Ruby on Rails is a full-stack framework. And while their combination is primarily used in web development, their use has diversified over time.
Ruby on Rails developers for hire can help you build products for various purposes, such as advertising, back-end for mobile applications, content management systems, e-commerce, social networks, etc.
How do you hire an expert Ruby developer?
Before you even dive into hiring a Ruby developer or a team of Ruby developers, allow me to share with you how you can hire them. Your Ruby Developer should have back-end programming knowledge and skills, from IoT devices to desktop applications and from domain-specific languages to website domains. All these and more so that the Ruby developers you will hire will bring value to your software development projects.
Besides having prior knowledge of what Ruby developers can do, you need to have a list of tips in making sure that you find the perfect candidate.
Let me share with you some tips on how you can hire and shortlist skilled Ruby developers.
Do Feedback Research
For you to be able to make the recruitment faster is by looking at the past reviews and feedback of old clients of the Ruby developer you want to hire. This is to make sure that no record of negative feedback or any red flags. From this, you will be able to gauge the candidate's work ethics when that person is hired as a Ruby developer
Technology-Ready
Whether your project revolves around Ruby on Rails or IoT, your Ruby developer should have the expertise or even familiarise with the software that your business is developing.
Hire from an Outsourcing Company
To speed up the process of hiring a Ruby developer, instead of handling the recruitment processes, consider hiring from an IT outsourcing company like Cloud Employee. This will not only make everything faster but you will be sure that who you will hire has undergone screening. Not only that, you will have the advantage of screening and interviewing the Ruby developer of your choice.
What technical skills should you look for when hiring a Ruby on Rails developer?
There are various technical skills that are valuable in Ruby on Rails development. Let’s go through them per category:
In terms of proficiency with Ruby
- Syntax - The basic elements of the language (e.g. loops, classes, conditional statements, modules, etc.)
- OOP programming - OOP concepts in Ruby like (e.g. classes, objects, inheritance vs composition, blocks vs procs vs lambdas, including vs extending a module)
In terms of proficiency with Ruby on Rails
- Knowledge of the MVC paradigm
- Knowledge of ERB or Haml - templating/view systems
- Knowledge of ActiveRecord - a Ruby library for working with Relational SQL Databases like MySQL and Postgres
- Knowledge of and experience in unit testing (e.g. unit testing using RSpec)
- Knowledge of and experience with API plus JSON
- Knowledge of the Basics of REST and HTTP protocol
In terms of front-end skills
- Knowledge of and experience with HTML5 and CSS
- Knowledge of and experience with JavaScript
In terms of working with databases
- Knowledge of and experience with SQL
- Knowledge of or experience in working with database engines (e.g. PostgreSQL or MySQL)
- Sound understanding of the concept of NoSQL databases (although not as popular as SQL bases, you will still find NoSQL in many existing projects)
In terms of other essential tools
- Experience in using Git - essential tool for code management
- Experience in Deployment - particularly, knowledge of or experience in Heroku, Capistrano, Docker, CI.
What are the best practices in Ruby on Rails development?
Aside from possessing essential technical skills, the best Ruby on Rails developer also know and put into practice Ruby on Rails best practices. Let’s discuss some of them below:
Two Space Indentation
Using 2-space indentation instead of 4-space indentation is one of the most widely adopted and agreed upon style guidelines in the Ruby community. Take a look at this sample code with 4-space indentation:
def some_method
some_var = true
if some_var
do_something
else
do_something_else
end
end
Following the 2-space indentation makes the code much cleaner and readable. This is how it will be written:
def some_method
some_var = true
if some_var
do_something
else
do_something_else
end
End
Use unless instead of !if:
When you have an if statement with a negative condition like the following:
if !true
do_this
end
or
if name != "sarmad"
do_that
end
It will be a good practice to make use of Ruby’s exclusive unless to make the code more readable. Our examples above will now be written like this:
unless true
do_this
end
or
unless name == "sarmad"
do_that
end
Never use unless-else
From the previous point, if you have to involve an else to your conditional, use if; do not use unless-else.
Wrong
unless user.save
#throw error
else
#return success
end
Correct
if user.save
#return success
else
#throw error
end
Smart Use of Enums
Consider this situation: we have a model named ‘Book’, as well as a column or field in which we want to keep its status (draft, completed, or published). This might lead us to write code similar to this:
if book.status == "draft"
do_something
elsif book.status == "completed"
do_something
elsif book.status == "published"
do_something
end
or
if book.status == 0 #draft
do_something
elsif book.status == 1 #completed
do_something
elsif book.status == 2 #published
do_something
end
In such a situation, it is a best practice to use enums. It can be done by first defining enums in your model, like this:
enum status: { draft: 0, completed: 1, published: 2 }
Now, we can rewrite the code like this:
if book.draft?
do_something
elsif book.completed?
do_something
elsif book.published?
do_something
end
This not only looks better and easier to read, it also gives you methods to switch between defined statuses.
- book.draft!
- book.completed!
- book.published!
How much will it cost you to hire Ruby developers?
Finding how much it cost to hire Ruby developers will depend on several factors.
First is you need to determine what type of project does the Ruy developer have to handle. Is it long term or short term? Project-based or full time? Next s you need to determine the level of expertise, the market conditions, the location, and the workload you need to assign to the Ruby developers.
Now let me give you specific conditions of why rates vary depending on who you hire as Ruby developers.
Scope of Project
The rates of Ruby developers greatly depend on the scope of your project. This includes everything about the project you are working on and how long will it take to finish the project. This is why during the recruitment process, you need to clarify this to the candidates' fo Ruby developers. You need to be specific so that when you finally hire a Ruby developer, that person will not be surprised by the actual scope of the project vs the scope that you mentioned before the Ruby developer is hired. You need to be fair as to how many developers you actually need to finish a project. From these, you can ask yourself questions as to what specific tasks would your Ruby developer has to accomplish.
Time Frame
When you hire Ruby developers, you need to consider how long will the project run. You need to mention whether they will be working for a short-term or a long-term project. Some Ruby developers are looking for long term project that would secure them paying job and others can work on a short-term project if Ruby developers are just looking for part-time work.
Experience
The rates of Ruby developers greatly depend on their experience. If your project requires very technical knowledge and high expertise, then you need to consider the experiences of the Ruby developer you wish to hire. You don't hire someone who has no experience as a Senior Ruby developer, right? Ruby developers who have more experience and expertise should have higher rates than those who are starting as Ruby developers.
Outsourcing Company
Some business owners are not aware of how much they could save time, energy and money when they hire Ruby developers from an outsourcing company Why? Because you won't have to spend money posting job description to various job websites. Two, you don't have to handle all the nitty-gritty of the whole recruitment process, three you don't have to spend a lot of money hiring professional Ruby developers and have them work in your office. Four, you won't need to provide the necessary equipment, machinery and even internet connection to your Ruby developers. Because guess what? Ruby developers from outsourcing IT company like Cloud Employee will help you from the recruitment processes to interview to hiring and onboarding. You won't have to worry about providing laptops or desktops because Cloud Employee will provide everything including the needed support for your Ruby developers.
Now that you know how you can hire Ruby developers for your business, make sure that you follow these steps so your company can take advantage of what offshore Ruby developers can do for your business.
WHY HIRE OFFSHORE RUBY ON RAILS DEVELOPERS WITH CLOUD EMPLOYEE
