Ruby on Rails is a classic choice for web development – time-tested, reliable and full of useful features. Despite being almost 25 years old, this programming language still remains one of the most used options.

Let’s discuss Ruby on Rails website examples, and the defining traits that allow RoR to remain popular today.

Ruby on Rails is actually not just a programming language, but rather a framework that consists of two parts: Ruby programming language and the Rails software library that extends its capabilities.

Developed more than twenty years ago by Japanese software developer Yukihiro Matsumoto, Ruby still ranks as one of the top ten most popular programming languages. Matsumoto stated that programming tools should be developed so they’ll be easier for humans to use, not for machines to understand, so it is very user-friendly, designed specifically with usability in mind.

Ruby is a general purpose language. It can be used for various software development tasks, but it’s especially effective in web application creation.

Rails, also known as Ruby on Rails, is a software library that extends the capabilities of Ruby programming language. In simple terms, it’s program code that is added to Ruby to make it more versatile and add more features. Rails was created in 2003 by David Heinemeier Hansson, when he grew disappointed with the more common languages like Java, which he thought was unnecessarily complicated, or PHP, which was full of repetitive code. He combined HTML, JavaScript and CSS with Ruby, and created one of today’s most popular programming tools.

Now, RoR is a framework for the creation of a wide variety of websites. It is used for creating server-side (or back-end) web applications, i.e. those that run on the server (the applications that run on the user’s browser are called “front-end” applications).

Another core feature that makes RoR awesome for developers of Ruby on Rails sample projects is its RubyGems feature. RubyGems is a package manager that enables the creation and sharing of Ruby software libraries, called “gems”. There are many useful gems for all sorts of situations available on the dedicated RubyGems website, and are easy to download and use. And with the huge community Ruby on Rails has, new gems are appearing as fast as new issues in programming arise.

With so many benefits, it’s no wonder that many successful companies and projects are choosing Ruby on Rails for their websites.

The list of the most famous Ruby on Rails websites includes:

An e-commerce platform for online stores, Shopify was created in 2004 as a solution for the problems with website development that many e-stores had faced. Despite its large database, Shopify is successfully using Ruby on Rails.

This is a website that allows developers from all across the globe to discuss and share their code. It’s quite telling that the most famous portal for software developers uses Ruby on Rails to design its website.

The place where Rails was born still claims the title of one of the best sites built with Ruby on Rails. When working on the Basecamp website fifteen years ago, a developer named David Heinemeier Hansson created what would later become one of the most used programming languages. Today Basecamp is a popular project management tool based on the website of the same name.

Who hasn’t heard of Urban Dictionary? The dictionary of slang run by regular people, this project is yet another example of a famous Ruby on Rails web application.

By the way, Urban Dictionary itself in its usual manner defines Ruby on Rails as “a popular first choice of developers that don’t intend to actually be around when the product is finished or put into production”.

An invaluable service for anybody who travels a lot, the AirBnb website is run by the global company of the same name. It allows travelers to book a room in more than 190 countries.

An online streaming service that has become very popular with the gaming community, Twitch has an impressive 1,000,000+ broadcasts per month and suffers no scalability problems.

This popular streaming service even went so far as to officially sponsor the RailsConf event back in 2012.

Kickstarter, the website that redefined crowdfunding, and its current 151 thousand successful projects were also made possible thanks to Ruby on Rails.

Groupon is a website that collects the best deals. It is used in 45 different countries and has more than 35 million registered users. This large business website has been using RoR since its founding a decade ago.

A useful website for anybody who likes to read, Goodreads gives its users the possibility to create reading lists and provides a platform for book discussions.

A hosting system for documents and presentations, Slideshare managed to hit the 3 million viewers milestone in just three years after its initial launch.

Also known as IYP, this business telephone directory moved to the web almost a decade ago, but still remains among the top popular search terms.

A crowdfunding site with more than 9 million viewers per month, Indiegogo also runs on Ruby on Rails

We Heart It is a social network for sharing inspiring photos, videos and texts that unites 25 million users. It has been named “one of the happiest places on the internet” by various online media.

ThemeForest allows you to buy or sell HTML templates that are used in products like WordPress or Drupal. This is the best place to find a multitude of templates at varying prices.

A digital library founded back in 2007, Scribd now hosts more than 60 million files. Despite its exponential growth, the site still runs on RoR.

Known as the “world’s biggest collection of song lyrics and musical knowledge”, the Genius website is a true godsend for any music fan out there.

This online platform was initially created as a place for musicians to share their tracks with each other. Now it hosts more than 135 million recordings and is used by the world’s most famous artists.

Fiverr is a freelance marketplace where people offer all kinds of services from a wide variety of categories: from legal translation to managing online game accounts. Founded in 2009, it has since reached wide popularity across the web.

This social network for travelers needs no introduction. The Couchsurfing community reached 15 million members in 2016 and still continues to grow. The website uses Ruby on Rails.

Developed more than 20 years ago, Ruby still remains one of the most popular programming languages, and the addition of the software library Rails has made it a favored tool for developers.

From the Ruby on Rails applications examples listed above, we can clearly see that despite its age, RoR hasn’t lost any of its popularity or usability. Many developers, along with some of the most viewed websites in the world like Kickstarter, Shopify and Twitch, choose Ruby on Rails for its many advantages: quality, usability, extensive libraries, and its active community.

If you want to create a reliable and feature-rich web application, you can safely choose Ruby on Rails.