MVP: where Rails shines bright

When we started our development studio back in 2012 (ah, glorious days!), there were a lot of considerations to make. Our local landscape was – and still is – full of outsourcing companies. Everyone around here seems to code in PHP or Java, but few understand the product application of whatever they are building.

As with any fresh start, we wanted to have nothing in common with the ‘old’ ways. We wanted to build and develop things, and to be happy along the way. We wanted to build sustainable software, as this is the art we craft as engineers. We’ve chosen Ruby on Rails as our go-to technology not because it made business sense, but because it was pragmatic, expressive and community-driven.

In fact, the last part is so important to us, that we started local community meetups. Which are supported by the best local developers and attended by junior and senior folk alike.

We naturally made mistakes along the way, some of which are now well-known limitations. But, at the end of the day, we knew what we were pursuing product-wise and, sprint by sprint, we were getting there. We were lean every step of the way. And we tried to get the maximum results with minimum effort – and Rails certainly allows that. Over the course of a few minimum variables, the value we added to a project became clear. Product ownership was a natural upgrade to our Rails capability: and it makes our development effort more purposeful.

Even the “single responsibility” principle is following in our business practice. It simply lies with us, be it for design, UX or implementation.

In summary, Rails is not another uber-marketed hipster technology. It just does its job with as little effort as a startup could spare to validate its product/market fit. And as quick as possible in an ever-changing, hyper-dynamic environment.