Ten Essential Gems for Ruby on Rails Applications - (r)

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These gems offer features for auditing, code analysis, code quality improvement, testing, and debugging.

Essential Gems to use in Ruby on Rails Applications

1. Bundler Audit

Bundler Audit is a gem which checks your app's dependencies for known security vulnerabilities. It compares the contents of your Gemfile.lock against a vulnerability database, and informs you if any of your gems may be vulnerable. With Bundler Audit, you are able to be proactive in addressing security problems and keep your application secure.

Its main features include:

• Examines vulnerable versions of gems contained in Gemfile.lock
• Checks for insecure gem sources (http http://) and git ://)
• Allows ignoring certain advisories which have been manually built around
• Prints advisory information

gem "bundler-audit"

2. FriendlyId

gem "friendly_id"

3. Bullet

Bullet is an amazing tool which helps you find and optimize unnecessary database queries. Bullet provides the ability to detect N+1 queries, unneeded load detection and various other optimizations for performance. Through the use of Bullet, you can improve the effectiveness of your app and ensure that database queries are optimised. Add this to your Gemfile in the development group.

jewel 'bullet' the group is "development"

4. Reek

Reek is a treasure which analyzes the codebase of your program and helps you identify smells or design issues. It can help you find places where you could simplify your code and change it in order to enhance its readability as well as maintainability. If you perform Reek over your code you will be able to ensure that your application adheres to best practices and is easier to keep over the long term.

 gem 'reek'

5. Rubocop

Rubocop is an extensively used gem for enforcing consistent coding styles and best practices in the Rails application. It offers a set of rules and guidelines that can be customized to match the requirements of your project. Utilizing Rubocop, you can ensure that your codebase is clean as well as readable and complies to commonly accepted coding conventions.

gem 'rubocop', require: false

6. rails_best_practices

rails_best_practices is a gem which analyzes the performance of your Rails application and offers suggestions to improve your application based on best practices. It can help you spot the possibility of performance issues as well as security weaknesses and design flaws. By using rails_best_practices, you can ensure that your application follows established Rails conventions and guidelines.

gem 'rails_best_practices'

7. Brakeman

group :development do
 gem 'brakeman'
 end

8. RSpec-rails

RSpec-rails is an extremely popular tool that is used for development using behavior-driven design (BDD) and testing using Ruby on Rails. It provides a powerful and expressive syntax for writing tests, making it easier to define and document the behaviour of your app. With RSpec-rails, developers are able to ensure the integrity and correctness of your code by using effective testing methods.

group :development, :test do
 gem 'rspec-rails', '~> 6.0.0'
 end

9. Pry

Pry is a powerful gem that improves the experience of debugging within Ruby on Rails. It provides a powerful REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) environment that includes advanced functions including syntax highlighting breaking point debugging. By using Pry you are able to interact with your application, analyze your program, examine variables, as well as diagnose and resolve issues faster.

group :development, :test do
 gem 'pry'
 end

10. Traceroute

Traceroute is an excellent tool which helps you comprehend the workflow within your Rails application, and pinpoint potential performance bottlenecks. It offers detailed information on the amount of time required by every middleware and controller operation and allows you to identify those areas that need to be optimized. Utilizing Traceroute, your can optimize the performance of your software and offer an enjoyable user experience.

gem traceroute

Summary

Implementing these vital gems into your Ruby on Rails applications can significantly improve the development process, improve the quality of your code, and increase security. In addition to optimizing queries for databases, the enforcement of coding standards, and even conducting rigorous testing, these gems give developers an array of benefits.

• Brakeman will scan and analyze your code for any possible unsafe calls or phrases
• Rspec-rails will run your test cases against the codebase
• Bundler Audit will reveal dependencies with known vulnerabilities.

Try all of these tools in your new projects and discover the benefits they provide into your Ruby on Rails development journey. Bring your existing projects up to speed. Enjoy programming!

Lee Sheppard

Lee is a Agile certified full stack Ruby on Rails developer. With over six years in the field of technology, he loves teaching and coaching Agile as well as mentoring other people. Lee has also spoken at tech related events and is a specialist in graphic design and illustration.