Ruby and Rails had their hype moment 10-15 years ago, and then simply became mainstream enough to be used in plenty of places without needing to hype it up. GitHub, Shopify, Stripe, plenty of other startups with lots of funding. Also: plenty of small companies you never heard of who simply need an API or small web app. Ruby is still an amazing language for writing code that is readable and fun to work with. Rails is still a framework that allows one person or a small team to get a lot of work done. It is almost boring, but it works. The hype is with JS/TS for web stuff. They get to enjoy re-inventing their ecosystem 2x per year and adopting (great) new things that will be abandoned after a year or two. Ruby and Rails have sort of joined ranks with PHP, Java and other languages as solid tools that you use when you need them and happen to have invested (knowledge, people, etc) in that ecosystem. Answer from narnach on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ruby › what’s ruby used for most nowadays?
r/ruby on Reddit: What’s Ruby used for most nowadays?
November 3, 2022 -
There was a time when I thought Ruby was going to take over the world of web programming with Ruby on Rails. Even as a language Ruby has always been a joy to use (at least for me, even though I am not very knowledgeable in Ruby) compared to similar languages like Python. Python is not bad but while using it I don’t catch myself smiling as often (if that makes any sense).
For some reason, I don’t hear much about Ruby nowadays. Python seems to be everywhere, even in school syllabus as a first programming language.
What happened? What is Ruby mostly used for nowadays? Is it just coincidence that Python took off in AI/ML and people started writing most libraries for Python?
Update: Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic replies. I now have a rough idea of the current status of Ruby. Its reassuring to know plenty of people still loves Ruby (well, of course its a Ruby forum, but still the nature of the replies is a good indicator imo). Ruby is just too good of a language to die out. I would not try to write truly large software in any dynamically typed language, but for quick scripts and moderate sized projects, writing in Ruby just feels like speaking to the computer!
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Ruby and Rails had their hype moment 10-15 years ago, and then simply became mainstream enough to be used in plenty of places without needing to hype it up. GitHub, Shopify, Stripe, plenty of other startups with lots of funding. Also: plenty of small companies you never heard of who simply need an API or small web app. Ruby is still an amazing language for writing code that is readable and fun to work with. Rails is still a framework that allows one person or a small team to get a lot of work done. It is almost boring, but it works. The hype is with JS/TS for web stuff. They get to enjoy re-inventing their ecosystem 2x per year and adopting (great) new things that will be abandoned after a year or two. Ruby and Rails have sort of joined ranks with PHP, Java and other languages as solid tools that you use when you need them and happen to have invested (knowledge, people, etc) in that ecosystem.
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Ruby is still the best language to write code , from a developer perspective. That’s what I care for, nothing else.
Ruby Programming Language
ruby-lang.org › en
Ruby Programming Language
Rich gems support all kinds of development. Mature tooling ready to use. Ruby has a vast collection of libraries called gems, supporting everything from web development to data processing.
What is Ruby used for?
Ruby is used in web development, basically building server-side applications. Its simplicity and elegant syntax make it popular for automation, da… More on lemon.io
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December 11, 2024What exactly to use Ruby for?
Subjective Opinion: Ruby is made for people who want to enjoy the journey while writing code. On the opposite side of that spectrum is Java. PS: I said what I said. More on reddit.com
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November 5, 2024What are the biggest pros and cons of using Ruby?
Biggest pro for me is I like it and find it easy to work in. More on reddit.com
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December 21, 2018Why is Ruby used instead of Python/R/Perl?
Ruby vs R - I don't see the comparison. Ruby is a general purpose programming language, R is specifically designed for statistical computing. Different tools for different jobs, you won't be building a web-app in R any time soon.
Ruby vs Perl - At the time Ruby was being developed, perl wasn't much of a general purpose language, it was mostly a tool for scripting and string processing and had a limited and rather bolted on object model. With modern perl you could make a more direct comparison but the mindshare has largely departed from perl and Ruby borrowed it's best features while adding a much stronger object model.
Ruby vs Python - These are pretty much directly comparable languages and it's more a matter of taste than anything. Python still has a bit of a bolted on object model which makes it a little weird to work with for those that prefer the smalltalk style object model of Ruby. Python has a strong following in the data science world due to the quality of supporting libraries: numpy, scipy, pandas, etc. Both rubyists and pythonistas have relatively strong opinions on language design that run into conflict at various points. As one example Ruby strongly favors chaining for functional programming constructs, map, filter, reduce, etc. Python heavily favors list comprehensions to fill the same use case.
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July 2, 2017Videos
Oracle
oracle.com › developer
What is Ruby?
Ruby is a highly popular programming language that’s used for lots of things, from web app development to data analysis. It’s also very user-friendly compared to other programming languages, and it’s fairly easy to learn if you’re willing to put in the work.
Ruby and Rails had their hype moment 10-15 years ago, and then simply became mainstream enough to be used in plenty of places without needing to hype it up. GitHub, Shopify, Stripe, plenty of other startups with lots of funding. Also: plenty of small companies you never heard of who simply need an API or small web app. Ruby is still an amazing language for writing code that is readable and fun to work with. Rails is still a framework that allows one person or a small team to get a lot of work done. It is almost boring, but it works. The hype is with JS/TS for web stuff. They get to enjoy re-inventing their ecosystem 2x per year and adopting (great) new things that will be abandoned after a year or two. Ruby and Rails have sort of joined ranks with PHP, Java and other languages as solid tools that you use when you need them and happen to have invested (knowledge, people, etc) in that ecosystem. Answer from narnach on reddit.com
Lemon.io
lemon.io › home › questions and answers › ruby › what is ruby used for?
What is Ruby used for? - Lemon.io
December 11, 2024 - Ruby is used in web development, basically building server-side applications. Its simplicity and elegant syntax make it popular for automation, da…
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ruby_(programming_language)
Ruby (programming language) - Wikipedia
February 25, 2026 - Matsumoto stated that Ruby is designed for programmer productivity and fun, following the principles of good user interface design. At a Google Tech Talk in 2008 he said, "I hope to see Ruby help every programmer in the world to be productive, and to enjoy programming, and to be happy.
Codecademy
codecademy.com › home › what is ruby used for?
What is Ruby Programming?
May 13, 2025 - Ruby is widely used for DevOps, automation, and website deployment. Heroku is a popular web app deployment platform that makes launching apps quick and easy, even for users who are unfamiliar with DevOps.
GoodFirms
goodfirms.co › home › blog › what is ruby used for? - 21 most common applications!
Benefits of Ruby and the most common applications
June 17, 2025 - Ruby is a programming language that is most used for web applications, databases and parsing, servers, e-commerce, content management, prototyping, and many other types of applications.
Ruby on Rails
rubyonrails.org
Ruby on Rails: Accelerate your agents with convention over configuration
Rendering HTML templates, updating databases, sending and receiving emails, maintaining live pages via WebSockets, enqueuing jobs for asynchronous work, storing uploads in the cloud, providing solid security protections for common attacks. Rails does it all and so much more. class Article < ApplicationRecord belongs_to :author, default: -> { Current.user } has_many :comments has_one_attached :cover_image has_rich_text :content, encrypted: true enum status: %i[ drafted published ] scope :recent, -> { order(created_at: :desc).limit(25) } after_save_commit :deliver_later, if: :published?
Pluralsight
pluralsight.com › tech insights & how-to guides › cloud
What is the Ruby Programming Language | Pluralsight
April 16, 2025 - We'll give an overview of the differences between Ruby vs Ruby on Rails and Ruby vs Python, and talk about what Ruby can be used for. When it comes to programming languages in the cloud, there are plenty to choose from. But to develop applications quickly, with clean and easy-to-understand code, many developers turn to Ruby. Get started with ACG and transform your career with hands-on learning around AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Linux, and beyond. ... Ruby is an open-source object-oriented scripting language invented in the mid-90s by Yukihiro Matsumoto.
Olibr
olibr.com › blog › all engineering topics › what is backend development
What Is Ruby? What Is It Used For?
Interactive Ruby/irb, which is a Ruby Interpreter, can be used as a calculator. Ruby can solve complex mathematical problems with its built-in support for rational numbers and complex numbers.
Published February 5, 2024
Coursera
coursera.org › coursera articles › computer science and engineering › web and app development › ruby vs. python: which should you choose?
Ruby vs. Python: Which Should You Choose? | Coursera
February 7, 2026 - Ruby and Python are popular high-level languages used primarily for back-end web development. Both are open-source and known for their code readability. With either language, developers can create web applications on different browsers and operating ...
BairesDev
bairesdev.com › home › blog › software development
What Is Ruby Used For – Enterprise Applications
Ruby’s syntax is designed to be easy to read and write. It’s also a great tool for web scraping and crawling, with libraries that simplify the extraction of data from web pages. Airbnb started on Rails—and for good reason. Ruby features enabled developers to write less code, launch faster, and pivot quickly. Today, hundreds of millions use the site to list, book, and manage stays.
DEV Community
dev.to › kopylov_vlad › why-i-love-ruby-44g9
Why I love Ruby - DEV Community
March 4, 2024 - The fact that so much can be done ... language. You can use it for all sorts of things, from writing system administration scripts to program electronics....
ThoughtCo
thoughtco.com › what-is-ruby-2907828
Here's What Ruby Is
February 2, 2019 - That being said, future versions ... a workaround for these issues. Ruby is used in typical scripting language applications such as text processing and "glue" or middleware programs....
Logit
logit.io › blog › post › what-is-ruby-used-for
What Is Ruby Used For?
February 4, 2025 - Our next specialist, Mario Uher has over ten years of experience with using Ruby for both frontend and backend projects, he explains more on how he uses Ruby; “Ruby allows you to quickly hack stuff, build prototypes and really powerful tools without too much-required setup/boilerplate.” · “Not only this, but it allows you also to build fast scaling apps serving millions of customers. In terms of what fields it is most suitable for, it would be hard to say, from web apps, eCommerce to social media, and in general communications.”
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ruby › what exactly to use ruby for?
r/ruby on Reddit: What exactly to use Ruby for?
November 5, 2024 -
So I found out about the language, got the interpreter set up... now what? Python is for big data and fast development speeds, C++ for compiling executables and execution speed, Lua for embedability and simplicity... what do I do in Ruby that would be much more complicated in other languages?
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Subjective Opinion: Ruby is made for people who want to enjoy the journey while writing code. On the opposite side of that spectrum is Java. PS: I said what I said.
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Build websites with Rails. Building with Rails in other languages is not practical. But seriously, websites.
HAVERHILL
haverhill.com › blogs › journal › ruby-symbolic-meaning-and-gemstone-care
Ruby’s meaning, styling, and care - HAVERHILL
January 14, 2026 - In spiritual and metaphysical practices, ruby is often believed to support emotional balance, grounding, and clarity. It is thought to energize the root and heart chakras, helping the wearer feel more connected to both their physical self and ...
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › ruby › ruby-programming-language
Ruby Programming Language - GeeksforGeeks
September 4, 2025 - Ruby gained worldwide recognition ... full-stack applications quickly. Beyond web apps, Ruby is also widely used for automation and scripting tasks, where DevOps teams employ it to manage systems and files....
SumatoSoft
sumatosoft.com › all › complete guide: everything you should know about ruby use
Complete Guide: Everything You Should Know About Ruby Use
Complete Guide: Everything You Should Know About Ruby Use
There are numerous options available regarding programming languages for the cloud. Many developers prefer Ruby to create rapid applications with clear and understandable code. Ruby use is an excellent option for custom web application development, and it clearly outperforms Python in web ... Looking to learn more about Ruby programming language?💎 Read this guide to learn its history, features, strengths, weaknesses, and common use cases!
TechCareer
techcareer.net › en › dictionary › ruby
What is Ruby? What does it do?
Its dynamic structure contributes to a fast and easy development process. Although Ruby is mostly used for developing web applications, it is a general-purpose language that can be used in various fields.