Just what is the best combination of packages to run a website using the Ruby programming language? As far as I see it, there’s three options.

1) Run ruby on rails using their default webrick HTTP server.

2) Run ruby in a framework such as Sinatra using a web server such as Nginx and a view engine such as HAML.

3) Set yourself up with Heroku Ruby hosting platform and develop from there.

There’s an interesting point on this stack over flow thread. Given that the majority of websites are now deployed in cloud environments, perhaps you want a webserver that performs better? If so, I can recommend Nginx as an alternative to webrick. It’s easy to install and configure. It also has some similarities with Apache webserver in terms of virtual configuration files for sites. I’m currently serving PHP from fast-cgi via Nginx, it works well!

Server performance aside, the second option with Sinatra is a little harder to get set up. As this requires many ruby gems, it may be harder to install and get started. Tho, in the end, I’d personally like to understand all aspects of the stack prior to development.

As for the third option, I’ve not tried it myself. Tho it seems like a great idea for a company to bind developers to a platform by means of package dependency. For me, this is both good and bad. You’re bound to them as a provider, yet some companies like that!

If you’ve any preference or experience with any arrangement, please comment and let me know!