Ruby on Rails - AJAX

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a web development technique used to create more dynamic and interactive web applications. In Ruby on Rails, AJAX is used to update parts of a web page without reloading the entire page. This is particularly useful for enhancing user experience by providing faster interactions and seamless updates.

Setting Up Rails Application

Install the Rails in your computer then generate a new project setting it with a database.

Step 1: Create new project

rails new geekapp

Step 2: Navigate to new project folder

cd geekapp

The below screenshot describes the components in the directory of the newly created rails app.

Step 3: Install the dependency bundles of gem files using "bundle install --gemfile" command.

To run the rails environment in the browser use the below command:

rails server

Configuring Routes

To change the default rails page to custom use the "root" keyword in the routes.rb file. Then customize the html in the geekapp\views\welcome\index.html.erb

for more: Routes in Rails

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  root "welcome#index"
end

Implementing the Controller

Create a controller for the welcome index file.

rails g controller welcome index

Creating Views

• Rendering Partials: Rails allows you to use partials to render specific parts of the page. This is particularly useful when updating the content via AJAX.

<%= render 'post', post: @post %>

Updating Partials with AJAX: In your .js.erb file, you can re-render the partial and insert it into the DOM.

$("#post_<%= @post.id %>").replaceWith("<%= j render 'post', post: @post %>");

Adding JavaSript

A standard form submission can be converted into an AJAX request by adding remote:true in the form tag. To handle the server responses can be done with either Javascript or Jquery by updating only the relevant part of that page. Partial rendering uses the partials to render parts of a page dynamically with AJAX. AJAX has two parts, the request part which is made by the browser using Javascript, and the response part which is handled by the Ruby app.

This is what a JQuery looks like in the request part.

$.get( "/geekgoodies", function(data) {

alert("geekgoodies are here for you!");

});

The rails has its own AJAX function described as in the ruby application.

Testing and Debugging

1. Integration Tests: Rails allows you to write integration tests that simulate AJAX requests. You can check the response and ensure that your AJAX features work as expected.
2. JavaScript-Enabled Testing: Using tools like Capybara with Selenium or WebDriver to test the JavaScript parts of your application.

Conclusion

When combined with AJAX, Ruby on Rails offers a powerful and a robust web framework for building dynamic applications. Developers can enhance their user experience with seamless page interactions without loading the entire page. Whether using the jQuery or Rails native AJAX functions which is completely on the users choice to make but Rails makes it a straight-forward approach to implement asynchronous features by keeping the development process efficient and enjoyable.