I love this response by DHH regarding web development in Rails. This was posted last January 25, 2017. And as we enter 2018, most of his points still hold true namely:
- Elegance of code
- Convention over configuration
- Full stack out of the box
In terms of scalability and speed, Rails still has its downside. But what does it mean to be scalable? If you reach the likes of Twitter and Uber then yes, scalability is a monstrous challenge that you have to address that Rails might just not cut it. But modern platforms such as those already have a complex stack both in the application layer, database layer and whatever backend crunches the numbers. But in my experience, there is still a relatively larger market for industries wanting to modernize their processes through web application/database driven systems. And Rails has never failed me in this aspect. All our clients' systems are using Rails for custom based business solutions and scale hasn't been a problem. Furthermore, our developers enjoy maintaining such systems with code elegance, modularity and flexibility in mind.
The community is very healthy and people still continue to push its technology to its limits. As of this writing, developers are working on the next iteration of Ruby (3) in which Rails will benefit greatly from in terms of speed. The stack also is constantly improving in terms of modern tech and practices. As of Rails 5 we have actioncable which allows pubsub functionality out of the box. Database maintaintability is still great and there is still a wide array of libraries a developer can use for his or her repertoire.
No matter what the hype is with all these new web dev frameworks, there still remains a special place for Rails for custom built systems. It allows you to focus on business rules rather than technicalities to get something done. It won't build the next Twitter or the next Uber but it will surely be part of the arsenal of tech stacks that will address a wide array of problems in various industries. It allows you to build things faster and maintain good software for years to come.