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RAKE vs Rails: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between RAKE and Rails. Both RAKE and Rails are popular tools used in web development, but they have distinct differences. Let's explore these differences in detail.

  1. RAKE: RAKE is a task runner and build automation tool in Ruby, used for managing and running various tasks within a Ruby application. It allows developers to define custom tasks and automate repetitive processes. RAKE is primarily used for running command-line tasks, such as database migrations, running tests, or deploying code.

  2. Rails: Rails, also known as Ruby on Rails, is a full-stack web application framework built on top of the Ruby programming language. It provides a set of conventions and tools to make web development faster and easier. Rails follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern and includes features like database management, routing, views, and controllers.

  3. Integration Level: RAKE operates at a lower level than Rails. It is a tool that can be used with any Ruby application, including Rails. On the other hand, Rails is a complete framework that includes RAKE and many other components, providing a higher level of abstraction and convenience for web development.

  4. Task Management: RAKE is primarily focused on task management and automation. Developers can define and execute tasks using RAKE, making it suitable for running scripts, performing system operations, and managing application-specific tasks. Rails, on the other hand, provides a broader framework for building web applications, with features like routing, database ORM, and view rendering built-in.

  5. Scope of Use: While RAKE is mainly used for command-line tasks, Rails is geared towards building web applications. Rails provides a development environment, conventions, and additional libraries that facilitate web development tasks such as handling HTTP requests, managing databases, and rendering views. RAKE is more versatile and can be used in any Ruby application, not just web development.

  6. Ease of Use: RAKE tasks can be easily defined and executed using custom scripts, making it straightforward for developers to manage individual tasks and automate repetitive processes. Rails, being a full-stack framework, has a steeper learning curve as it provides a more comprehensive set of features and requires understanding of the MVC pattern and Rails-specific conventions.

In summary, RAKE is a task runner and build automation tool focused on managing custom tasks, while Rails is a full-stack web application framework that includes RAKE and provides a higher level of abstraction for web development. RAKE operates at a lower level and can be used with any Ruby application, while Rails is specifically designed for building web applications, offering additional features and conventions.

Advice on Rails and Rake
Max Loua
FullStack Dev at Nouvelles Donnes · | 3 upvotes · 366.9K views
Needs advice
on
Node.jsNode.jsRailsRails
and
Rails APIRails API

Currently working on my company's new saas, the main goal is to manage content and user. I'm familiar with the rails framework and how it is easy to code and deploy. The thing is I'm the only dev on the project, and in terms of the tech stack, there is no preference. However, because Node.js is everywhere and there is enough dev on the market, I am stuck between choosing Rails or Node.js. I don't mind implementing Vue.js or React on the frontend, but I need a solid argument to explain to people that aren't necessarily tech-savvy as to why we should choose Rails over Nodejs.

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Replies (6)
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Node.jsNode.js

You are probably referring to ruby on rails for web development and nodejs for building the backend. Nodejs has frameworks such as express and next which not only provides a minimal code to build a backend but also gives the flexibility to try and experiment with the framework choices. For example you can have express framework + Passport for OAuth .... etc. The flexibility and the constant improvement of the language provides a good reason to opt for nodejs. Nodejs uses javascript which makes your code uniform when you are working full stack i.e react in front end and nodejs in backend.

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Rails APIRails API

I'd use the following metaphor to non-technical people. Rails is like a prepackaged toolkit, which can get most of the common tasks done fairly with ease. Whereas, node.js with whatever backend framekwork of choice, is like a DIY toolkit assembled by mix-and-match different tools in a large tool shop. Of course, at times DIY toolkit can do better on specific tasks. Given that you are the only dev on the project, I'd assume that the resource is fairly limited. And looks like you are not building some next-gen super duper fast smart application. So Just go with the prepackaged toolkit then. Rails is a very opinionated framework, there're pros and cons to it. But thanks to that, many of the gems are coded with it in mind. For example, they are all designed with same naming convention. Many will work well together out-of-box, for example devise and cancancan. Besides, many stuff are built in the framework. For example, logging utility, csrf protection, session encryption, etc. Yes, many of those stuff may not be useful or necessary at the beginning of the project life-cycle. However, down the road, there is a good chance you will need some of those. And the moment you realize that you already have it, it's so delightful. In addition, it's usually easier to debug a rails app than a node app in my experience. Personally, the cases where I would pick node.js over rails would be projects either require a) high-performance, or b) certain core functionality that has been implemented by some node packages but not by any ruby gems. In term of performance, node has a clear advantage over any other major web frameworks, except the ones built with go. It's simply a language feature. Node allows developer to easily write code that runs db query, external api calls, or other stuff of that nature in parallel. And that is THE MOST COMMON performance bottleneck of web applications.

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Dan Pickett
Co-Founder at Launch Academy · | 4 upvotes · 318.7K views
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on
Node.jsNode.js

I hate to admit it, because I loved my time with Rails (and I still love the framework), I have a hard time justifying new Rails applications these days. Core team has made some tragic design decisions, and developers just don't perceive it as being "cool" any more. The latter is a terrible metric for which to base a technology decision, but I think you'll find it more difficult to recruit additional engineers if you choose Ruby on Rails.

Without knowing too much of the details, Node/Express (ideally with Typescript) seems like a better solution here, given you'll be building out the front-end in Vue or React. It might be worth looking at NestJS, as it's the closest I've seen to a well-formed opinionated framework on the Node side of things. We're also fans of Objection ORM.

I hope that's helpful!

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Francisco Quintero
Tech Lead at Dev As Pros · | 4 upvotes · 319.1K views
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at

Rails is currently a very mature and feature complete framework.

It's the ideal one if you're the only dev for your project because you get so many things already baked-in the framework that you'd only need to deeply care about specific stuff.

I won't say any NodeJS framework isn't good enough but in my experience with NodeJS frameworks you have to code a lot of the things Rails already provides. There's many people in Twitter and IRL asking for a "Rails for JavaScript" framework.

And you know? In the early stages of any project we have to validate it first with real users/customers. With Rails you can get to production real quick and fast.

I'm going to mention some of the features you get from day 1 when you run rails new app_name:

  • File uploading with Active Storage
  • Rich text editor with Action Text
  • Emailing with Action Mailer
  • ORM, migrations, validations with Active Record
  • Web sockets with Action Cable
  • Internationalization
  • Modern frontend stuff with Webpacker

and more.

The JavaScript community is on its moment, growing and gathering more people everyday but the Rails community is also a big one and there's always going to be a Rails developer to hire whenever you're ready to hire someone.

I suggest you to go with Rails because is a good choice, gives you less things to worry about and it's a very good and mature framework.

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Jean-Pierre Pommet
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React on RailsReact on Rails

I need a solid argument to explain to people that aren't necessarily tech-savvy as to why we should choose Rails over Nodejs

Hi Max, it sounds like that you are proficient in both stacks and probably have a higher expertise in Rails (correct me if I am wrong) and since you are the only dev on a project, a good argument that comes to mind is probably the velocity and maturity (enterprise grade, battle tested in production) that Rails provide with proven success stories in the tech industry such as Airbnb, Stripes, Shopify to name a few. You can also make the argument that Rails is great to run the backend and React+Vue (and nodejs for tooling) is ideal for the front-end development (see or find companies example that use both). You can also build and show a prototype using both and share your experience which could help you find and forge the selling points to those non tech savvy folks, why not.

Eventually, are you going to have other developers on your project? if yes then you will need to take in account, onboarding and ramp up to contribution time when they are hired.

IMHO, I am not a fan of the debate Rails vs Nodejs, they are just tools at the disposal of the developer it's just a matter of figuring out what makes the most sense.

Let me know if you wanna discuss further, happy to help out!

ps: markdown preview on stack share... no good.

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Rails has advantages over node.js (specifically express) when working a more complicated backend. While Express has some speed advantages to Rails, this is mitigated if your software is more CPU intensive.

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Shivam Bhargava
AVP - Business at VAYUZ Technologies Pvt. Ltd. · | 22 upvotes · 716K views
Needs advice
on
Node.jsNode.jsPythonPython
and
RailsRails

Hi Community! Trust everyone is keeping safe. I am exploring the idea of building a #Neobank (App) with end-to-end banking capabilities. In the process of exploring this space, I have come across multiple Apps (N26, Revolut, Monese, etc) and explored their stacks in detail. The confusion remains to be the Backend Tech to be used?

What would you go with considering all of the languages such as Node.js Java Rails Python are suggested by some person or the other. As a general trend, I have noticed the usage of Node with React on the front or Node with a combination of Kotlin and Swift. Please suggest what would be the right approach!

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Replies (9)
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ServerlessServerless

Use the language which works well for the developers you have or have available. If you're starting, building a first iteration is far more important than worrying about what language might be best to solve a problem you may never have.

When hiring, look for developers, not "node developers" or "java developers" having people who recognise and are willing to adapt means you can have the flexibility you will need to solve as-yet unforeseen issues. Hire people who are wed to a specific language and you will be bound to that language, regardless of whether it's most appropriate or not.

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RailsRails

For online banking, it'll be less computation intensive and more data intensive. So, Rails will be better than Python. I'll not recommend Node.js as it's not as scalable as those. If I had to choose indepently I would took Go.

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Node.jsNode.js

Typescript reduces many errors and makes potentially big app more maintainable. For banking app typed language is must have, so if not node than it could be anything typed, but not python or ruby. Also you can search benchmarks by yourself - ruby is the slowest language in the world, python comes next, javascript is on top of interpreted languages by speed.

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Varun Sharma
CTO at Nugen Computer & I.T. Services · | 5 upvotes · 129.6K views

HI Shivam, If you the only person who is going to develop the full application then I will suggest you to go for Node.js because you will have to deal with one language only i.e. Javascript. And if you are thinking about scaling then do not worry. Nodejs with mongodb make good application. Capital One bank, Paypal, Linkedin and so on companies shifted themselves to Nodejs. Even if you go for Ruby, it has GVL which again makes it work in single thead. If you want to manage concurrent requests in Ruby then you have to manage by introducing Rubinius/jRuby. If we talk about the deployment of Nodejs, it require less resources as compare to other. I have deployed inventory solution right now using Reactjs with Node.js stack and it is pretty much good. I have also deployed apps in Ruby as well. However, node is fast as compare to Ruby and you can scale it easily. I am not saying Ruby is bad. I work in Ruby as I told you above. But these are the real facts.

You can checkout this link :- https://softwarebrothers.co/blog/companies-that-use-node-js/

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John Akhilomen
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PythonPython

Since it's a banking app, I'd advice you go with Python for the backend because of the data analysis you'd be doing in your app. I see you doing some data analysis since it's a banking app. Python is a powerful language for data analysis. And for web, yes I'd advice Node with React, and for mobile, Node with a combination of Kotlin and Swift. Don't even try going hybrid for this kind of application. It's best going native.

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Chris Capistran
Software Engineer at Ultra Mobile · | 3 upvotes · 129.2K views
Recommends
on
Node.jsNode.js

The reason why companies are switching to nodeJS is because it unifies all development under a single language.

If you are a one man team you can start developing anywhere on the stack without the overhead of switching languages at each layer. If you have a large team, your DBAs, your core service team, your application team can all read each others code.

You can build a serverless backend using nodeJS and cloud services( AWS, Azure, etc.) that is extremely scalable. A front end framework (ReactJS(Web/mobile), ReactNativeJS(mobile optimized) all in Javascript. If you need to optimize performance for mobile further you can contract an iOS Developer to build in Swift or an Android developer to build it Kotlin and give them keys to use your nodeJS apis.

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Amit Mor
Software Architect at Payoneer · | 3 upvotes · 129.2K views
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JavaJava

As others mentioned, the problem domain is around data. From my experience, data means strongly typed entities. It might be good however to start off with a dynamic language such as Python (with Django) just to build a prototype, but once the models have been proved to be valid I'd go with statically typed language such as java/Go (I prefer Go but that's a whole different conversation) as you get compile time guarantees for type safety.

An alternative (or addition) to all of the above is the use of 'strong protocols', such as Protocol Buffers, Avro, Thrift and the likes. In this case you get type safety and stability between communicating backend services, while deciding and changing on whatever backend service language you want. That goes to say that your problem is not related to programming language decision but to a much profound understanding of what's important for the business to be created and be valuable.

As a general note, I don't think you should go, if you've got commercial aspirations, with any language that you'd have hard recruiting people who actually know what their doing. In Israel it would mean take Kotlin out of the equation

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You should not go with react,kotlin and swift those are very colourful languages but java ,node.js etc are colourful yet they have depth. You should only go with kotlin if you want to use android studio it is highly compatible. So its your choice . May you choose the best

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Jay Rathod
Software Developer at Software Development & Design Services · | 1 upvotes · 129.2K views
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node is convenient.

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Decisions about Rails and Rake
Chose
RailsRails
over
DjangoDjango

I have used both the tools . Both of them are super awesome , very reliable and their learning curve is also super easy. But, the reason I choose Ruby on Rails over Django is the fact that the dependency injection is super easy in Rails than Django. What I mean is the fact that, Django requires a lot of import statement to do a lot of work, which remembering is not so easy and even after that you may need to write a lot of code. But Ruby on Rails uses gem to add addition feature or dependency in the project. Which requires just copying the gem statement from github and pasting it in the Gemfile, then running bundle install(these days just bundle works super fine). And there you are with the new feature in your app. You can see this with the example of Authentication, where in Django you require several steps like adding class based views and many more, but in rails it's just as easy as installing the 'devise' gem . And if you want to make it beautiful use bootstrap_template gem to make it look prettier. Now with Rails 6 , Rails is a total developer's fervent friend because it has come up with features like Action Mail and Action Text.

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Since I came from python I had two choices: #django or #flask. It felt like it was a better idea to go for #django considering I was building a blogging platform, this is kind of what #django was made for. On the other hand, #rails seems to be a fantastic framework to get things done. Although I do not regret any of my time spent on developing with #django I want to give #rails a try some day in the future for the sake of curiosity.

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As a small team, we wanted to pick the framework which allowed us to move quickly. There's no option better than Rails. Not having to solve the fundamentals means we can more quickly build our feature set. No other framework can beat ActiveRecord in terms of integration & ease-of use. To top it all of, there's a lot of attention paid to security in the framework, making almost everything safe-by-default.

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Christopher Wray
Web Developer at Soltech LLC · | 6 upvotes · 383K views

When I started on this project as the sole developer, I was new to web development and I was looking at all of the web frameworks available for the job. I had some experience with Ruby on Rails and I had looked into .net for a bit, but when I found Laravel, it felt like the best framework for me to get the product to market. What made me choose Laravel was the easy to read documentation and active community. Rails had great documentation, but lacked some features built in that I wanted out of the box, while .net had a ton of video documentation tutorials, but nothing as straightforward as Laravels. So far, I am happy with the decision I made, and looking forward to the website release!

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Pros of Rails
Pros of Rake
  • 856
    Rapid development
  • 652
    Great gems
  • 606
    Great community
  • 484
    Convention over configuration
  • 417
    Mvc
  • 348
    Great for web
  • 343
    Beautiful code
  • 310
    Open source
  • 270
    Great libraries
  • 261
    Active record
  • 108
    Elegant
  • 90
    Easy to learn
  • 88
    Easy Database Migrations
  • 82
    Makes you happy
  • 75
    Free
  • 62
    Great routing
  • 54
    Has everything you need to get the job done
  • 41
    Great Data Modeling
  • 38
    MVC - Easy to start on
  • 38
    Beautiful
  • 35
    Easy setup
  • 26
    Great caching
  • 25
    Ultra rapid development time
  • 22
    It's super easy
  • 17
    Great Resources
  • 16
    Easy to build mockups that work
  • 14
    Less Boilerplate
  • 7
    Developer Friendly
  • 7
    API Development
  • 6
    Great documentation
  • 5
    Easy REST API creation
  • 5
    Quick
  • 4
    Intuitive
  • 4
    Great language
  • 4
    Haml and sass
  • 4
    Easy to learn, use, improvise and update
  • 2
    Metaprogramming
  • 2
    It works
  • 2
    Jet packs come standard
  • 2
    Easy and fast
  • 2
    Legacy
  • 1
    It's intuitive
  • 1
    Convention over configuration
  • 1
    Easy Testing
  • 1
    Cancan
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    Cons of Rails
    Cons of Rake
    • 24
      Too much "magic" (hidden behavior)
    • 14
      Poor raw performance
    • 12
      Asset system is too primitive and outdated
    • 6
      Heavy use of mixins
    • 6
      Bloat in models
    • 4
      Very Very slow
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      What is Rails?

      Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.

      What is Rake?

      It is a software task management and build automation tool. It allows the user to specify tasks and describe dependencies as well as to group tasks in a namespace.

      Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

      What companies use Rails?
      What companies use Rake?
      See which teams inside your own company are using Rails or Rake.
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      What are some alternatives to Rails and Rake?
      Django
      Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.
      Ruby
      Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.
      Sinatra
      Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort.
      React
      Lots of people use React as the V in MVC. Since React makes no assumptions about the rest of your technology stack, it's easy to try it out on a small feature in an existing project.
      Laravel
      It is a web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. It attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions, and caching.
      See all alternatives