New Rails 8 Defaults You’ll Love
One of the standout qualities of Ruby on Rails is the well-thought-out choices it makes by default. The key here is “by default”—you always have the option to adjust these choices when you have a good reason.
Rails 8 introduces three new defaults to enhance development:
- Dev Containers
- Brakeman Setup
- RuboCop Setup
Dev Containers
Dev containers apply Docker concepts used in deployment to your development environment. By bundling everything needed for development into containers, you can develop across Mac, Windows, or Linux machines with minimal setup. This makes it easier than ever to get a new developer up and running quickly on any platform.
Brakeman
Brakeman is a static code analyzer that scans your code for known security vulnerabilities. While it doesn’t guarantee complete security, it helps avoid common pitfalls by automatically alerting developers to potential issues, boosting code quality and security.
RuboCop
Like Brakeman, RuboCop is a static code analyzer, but it focuses on style rather than security. RuboCop enforces style consistency, making your codebase more readable and understandable, especially as teams grow.
By including these tools as defaults, Rails 8 takes another step toward making development faster, easier, and more secure—allowing your team to focus on building quality software.