FullStack Dev at Nouvelles Donnes·
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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3 upvotes·367K views
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Engineering at Shopify·
Recommends
on
React 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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3 upvotes·2 comments·318.9K views
Yonas Beshawred
Yonas Beshawred
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July 10th 2020 at 4:51PM

Hey Jean-Pierre, StackShare team member here, just chiming in on your Markdown comment here. Guessing that you're saying that not having a way to preview sucks? If so, I agree and it's on the roadmap :)

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Jean-Pierre Pommet
Jean-Pierre Pommet
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July 10th 2020 at 9:17PM

Hey Yonas, glad you have the preview feature coming soon! :)

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Recommends
on
Node.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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7 upvotes·2 comments·320.7K views
Max Loua
Max Loua
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June 17th 2020 at 2:08PM

I'm familiar with Nodejs, express and vue, i have worked on a coupled of project with those stacks. my question was mainly towards how can i explain to a group of people (my supervisors) that arent tech savvy why working on rails is good for such product which is small and im the only dev on it. the goal is to dev it using rails api for the backend with a vuejs frontend.

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Niket Kulkarni
Niket Kulkarni
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June 17th 2020 at 8:58PM

You can tell them by showing the google trends , the manner in which nodejs has taken over ruby on rails over the years. You can show the amount of support that has been gained in the community when nodejs is being used and lastly you can tell them that nodejs is blazing fast due to v8 engine on which it runs.

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Jean-Pierre Pommet

Engineering at Shopify