Ruby on Rails Hidden Gems

🚀 Ruby on Rails Hidden Gems: Supercharge Your App’s Performance & Optimization!

Are you looking to make your Ruby on Rails application faster, optimized, and more efficient? While Rails itself is powerful, there are some hidden gems that can take your app to the next level! 💎

In this blog, we’ll explore lesser-known but incredibly powerful gems that can optimize database queries, speed up responses, reduce memory usage, and improve overall performance. Let’s dive in! �

🔍 1. bullet – N+1 Query Killer

What it does?

Detects N+1 queries, unused eager loading, and suggests optimizations.

Example & Use Case:

Without bullet, you might accidentally load associated records in a loop, causing performance issues:

# Bad: N+1 queries  
@posts = Post.all  
@posts.each { |post| puts post.user.name } # Queries user for each post!  

With bullet, it warns you to use includes:

# Good: Eager loading  
@posts = Post.includes(:user)  

Installation:

gem 'bullet'  

Then configure it in development.rb:

config.after_initialize do  
  Bullet.enable = true  
  Bullet.alert = true  
end  

Why use it?
✅ Prevents slow queries
✅ Improves database efficiency

⚡ 2. fast_jsonapi (Now jsonapi-serializer) – Blazing-Fast JSON Responses

What it does?

A lightning-fast JSON serializer following the JSON:API spec.

Example & Use Case:

Instead of slow as_json or Jbuilder, use:

# Install: gem 'jsonapi-serializer'  

class PostSerializer  
  include JSONAPI::Serializer  
  attributes :title, :content  
  belongs_to :user  
end  

# In controller  
render json: PostSerializer.new(@posts).serializable_hash  

Why use it?
✅ 5-10x faster than ActiveModel Serializers
✅ Reduces response time for APIs

🧠 3. pghero – Database Performance Monitor

What it does?

Analyzes PostgreSQL queries, finds slow ones, and suggests indexes.

Example & Use Case:

After installing:

gem 'pghero'  

Visit /pghero to see:
🔹 Slow queries
🔹 Missing indexes
🔹 Table statistics

Why use it?
✅ Optimizes database performance
✅ Identifies bottlenecks

🚤 4. rack-mini-profiler – Speed Up Your Requests

What it does?

Shows real-time performance metrics for every request.

Example & Use Case:

Install:

gem 'rack-mini-profiler'  

Then, a small widget appears on your page showing:
🔹 SQL time
🔹 Rendering time
🔹 Memory usage

Why use it?
✅ Quickly identify slow endpoints
✅ Helps optimize rendering & queries

🧹 5. memory_profiler – Find Memory Leaks

What it does?

Analyzes memory usage and detects leaks.

Example & Use Case:

require 'memory_profiler'  

report = MemoryProfiler.report do  
  # Your suspicious code  
  100.times { User.all.map(&:name) }  
end  

report.pretty_print  

Why use it?
✅ Finds memory-hungry code
✅ Prevents server bloat

🏎️ 6. bootsnap – Faster App Boot Time

What it does?

Caches Ruby & Rails files to reduce startup time.

Example & Use Case:

Just add:

gem 'bootsnap', require: false  

Then in config/boot.rb:

require 'bootsnap/setup'  

Why use it?
✅ 50-80% faster Rails boot time
✅ Speeds up development

🔥 Bonus: parallel_tests – Run Tests in Parallel!

What it does?

Speeds up test suites by running them in parallel.

Example & Use Case:

gem 'parallel_tests'  

Run tests with:

rake parallel:spec  

Why use it?
✅ Cuts test suite time by 50-70%
✅ Great for CI/CD pipelines

🎯 Final Thoughts

Optimizing a Rails app isn’t just about writing better code—it’s also about using the right tools! These hidden gems can:

🔹 Eliminate N+1 queries (bullet)
🔹 Speed up JSON responses (fast_jsonapi)
🔹 Monitor DB performance (pghero)
🔹 Profile memory & requests (rack-mini-profiler, memory_profiler)
🔹 Reduce boot time (bootsnap)
🔹 Run tests faster (parallel_tests)

Try them out and watch your app fly! ✈️

Which gem will you try first? Let me know in the comments! 💬👇

#RubyOnRails #Performance #Optimization #WebDev #Programming