Ruby continues to be one of the most valued programming languages for web applications and back-end development. That’s because the full-stack language comes with a host of useful features. From its huge plugin and module ecosystem, ad its standardized file storage to its basic security standards, this language makes large-scale development projects a simple undertaking.
Ruby is currently ranked the 12th most popular programming language among software developers. Yet, its popularity doesn’t fully reflect its value. That’s because Ruby developers use it extensively for server-side development, which most consumers don’t see.
In addition, Ruby is used widely for web applications. The popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter utilized Ruby for its original web application in 2009, and again for its rebuild in 2017.
This article will explore the future of the Ruby programming language headed into 2020. Among them, expect to see the number of job openings for Ruby developers continue to decline slowly, eventually stabilizing within the next couple of years.
Hanami will also continue to grow its user base, attracting engineers to its minimalist approach. In addition, Ruby will continue to thrive as a web application builder and will find a space as a dominant programming language in the healthcare industry.
A decrease in the Number of Ruby Job Openings
One of the most troubling recent trends in the Ruby development community is the slow reduction in the number of Ruby job postings. The number of job openings for Ruby developers reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2017 before dropping to its lowest number in years by the start of 2019.
While the number of Ruby vacancies is expected to rise seasonally at the end of 2019, as it always does, the overall trend is clear: the demand for Ruby developers is slowly declining.
Stack Overflow’s 2019 Developer Survey found that Ruby is now ranked the 12th most popular programming language among developers, a worrisome decline from the language’s 10th position in 2017.
In addition, salaries for Ruby developers fell for the second year in a row, with an annual decline of 1.2%. The average salary is now $102k a year, making Ruby engineers the 8th-highest paid programmers. The language was beaten by popular JavaScript frameworks like Node.js and TypeScript.
Competition from other development languages is one of the main reasons why Ruby is on the decline. JavaScript frameworks like Node.js are beginning to cut into Ruby’s web application dominance, while Swift and Kotlin are becoming increasingly popular for mobile development.
Despite recent declines in the number of Ruby job openings, the language will continue to be one of the most popular options for complex web applications and server-side development.
Hanami Will increase Its Market Share
The Ruby development community has long been dominated by Ruby on Rails, the most important and widely used framework associated with the language. However, the upstart Hanami framework is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Hanami was just released in 2018. The lightweight framework comes with a host of useful features, like clear database API, an expansive Content-Security-Policy, and HTML escaping.
More importantly, developers can select each of these components individually, allowing them to maintain a lean and effective programming framework. That’s one reason why the framework has become so popular with lean startups and Ruby development outsourcing firms.
As a result, Hanami’s development team estimates that the language consumes 60% less memory than competing Ruby frameworks like Ruby on Rails.
Expect more Ruby developers to shift from Rails to Hanami over the next year. The framework is perfect for experienced software engineers who value flexibility and freedom over an all-in-one approach that is difficult to navigate.
Continue to Thrive as a Web Application Builder
Ruby has long been one of the most popular languages for web application developers. That’s because the object-oriented scripting language allows engineers to quickly and easily build complex web applications.
Its model-view-controller architecture is particularly useful for web developers. That’s because it places the business logic in a central role within the application, making it easy to manipulate data correctly.
In addition, the most popular Ruby framework, Ruby on Rails, comes with a wide range of premade plugins and modules that allow developers to reuse basic code. This saves them a huge amount of valuable time and reduces the number of coding errors since the reused code has been previously tested for errors.
Expect to see Ruby continue its dominance as one of the leading web application languages. It’s a simple and easy-to-navigate approach to the view that makes it an obvious choice for software engineers building complex web apps.
Emphasis on Healthcare Software Development
Ruby is thriving in one sector of the economy. The healthcare industry is using Ruby extensively to develop exciting new technology that will allow it to better serve patients and improve health outcomes.
Medical technology companies and Ruby development services are using the language to build cutting-edge software as a medical device (SaMD). SaMDs are any type of software that is used for medical reasons but is not part of a medical device itself. This includes mobile applications, image processing software, and tools that download diagnostic information onto computers.
In addition, the healthcare industry is using Ruby to build advanced electronic health records (EHRs). This type of software is the backbone of the modern healthcare industry. Every single patient’s appointment, diagnosis, prescription, and test is recorded in this system. This information is stored on outside servers and can be shared with other healthcare providers at the patient’s discretion.
This type of electronic system removed a huge burden from patients, who previously had to carry around a single copy of their medical records to every new doctor.
However, the current generation of EHRs is riddled with problems. Each system uses its own set of medical codes, which makes transferring data from one doctor’s office to the next a hassle if they are using different programs. This requires medical assistants to spend countless hours manually transferring data.
The EHRs of the future are being built with Ruby today. They use the same medical codes and are programmed to allow patients to easily transfer their records from one office to another with ease. They are also being built with impressive user experience and interface designs that make them easy to navigate.
Looking Forward
While Ruby may no longer be the dominant language it once was, the language will continue to be a popular choice for large companies and dedicated Ruby development companies interested in building advanced web applications and specializing in server-side development.
The popular minimalist framework Hanami will continue its rise as well. The bare-bones framework was released to the public in 2018 but has already established a large and passionate following in the software engineering community.
Finally, Ruby will continue to be the most popular programming language for SaMD and EHR development. Expect the number of job openings to increase in the healthcare field as the industry looks to produce next-generation EHRs that take advantage of the Big Data revolution.
