Top Ruby Projects to Sharpen Your Skills and Build Your Ruby Portfolio

Ruby is a popular and widely-used programming language because of its simplicity. It is useful for different projects. If your goal is to develop websites like Twitter, Hulu, and AirBnB, then learning Ruby programming is key. You can practice on Ruby projects to hone your skills and help you achieve your career goals.

This guide provides you with several project ideas for each skill level that you can use to develop your Ruby programming skills. If you are currently enrolled in a bootcamp program or an online course for Ruby, these project ideas are a great way to practice outside of class.

5 Skills That Ruby Projects Can Help You Practice

Working on a Ruby project is an effective way to develop your skills. Projects give you the chance to apply your knowledge to a practical venture. Below are some key skills you can learn and practice if you want to learn Ruby. 

• Front End Web Development. Ruby is often used to develop dynamic web pages and user interfaces. Once you study Ruby, you will gain more techniques in front end web development as you learn with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Syntax Knowledge. Ruby programming uses syntax that has specific functions that you need to master. This includes learning how loops, classes, and conditional statements work.
• Database Management. Together with SQL, you will learn how to utilize Ruby to maintain and manage a database. This is an important part of developing a website or software application.
• Model-View-Controller (MVC) Framework. You can learn to create a proper MVC framework by working on a Ruby project. An MVC helps you practice how to segregate each layer to make sure that the website or application has a proper structure.
• Restful API. Achieving a restful API is important in website or software development to guarantee a structured and organized exchange of data. This is one of the key skills for Ruby developers because you will be dealing with data transfers.

Best Ruby Project Ideas for Beginners 

You can work on simple Ruby projects first. These project ideas range from creating a chat widget, building web interfaces, and creating databases using Ruby and other related programming languages.

Create a Chat Widget Using Chatwoot

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Database Management

The goal of this project is to make a chat box readily available on a business or online store website so that customers can easily ask questions or contact support. It is one way to improve the response time of a customer support platform so that a potential sale can be generated right away through the responsive chat widget.

Build a 2D Game using Goby

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Syntax Knowledge

Through this project, you will be able to develop a complete game with 2D animation, music, and other customizable elements. For this project, you will use Goby which is a free open-source Ruby framework. Once you learn to create games, you can move on to larger-scale projects with more elements to work on.

Manage Web Database with FluentD

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Database Management, Restful API

If you want to master how to manage a database for a website or mobile application, FluentD is a good tool to use. In this project, you will collate various data and ensure that it is logged properly with the help of SQL and Hadoop. This powerful Ruby framework covers access logs, app logs, and system logs, as well as data analysis.

Build a Website with Nokogiri

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, MVC Framework, Database Management

Nokogiri is a useful Ruby framework if you want to build a website and understand design principles. You can use it with HTML and CSS to organize links and image elements. More importantly, Nokogiri is helpful in achieving restful APIs, which you need to make a website function dynamically. It also ensures that the correct information is displayed.

Build an RSS Feeder for a Website with Ruby

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Syntax Knowledge

Build a website with real-time updates by adding an RSS feeder using Ruby. In this project, you need to conceptualize how you want your website to look and what kind of content to display in the RSS feed to achieve an optimal front end design. You can also modify the HTML code so that the feed has good content quality and is easy to read for website visitors.

Best Intermediate Ruby Project Ideas 

Building web applications prepares you to complete intermediate Ruby projects. You can challenge your skills by building on your current project with a more complicated task, or by starting a new project altogether. Listed below are some intermediate Ruby project ideas that you can consider.

Build a Background Job System

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Database Management, MVC Framework, Restful API

This project is ideal for backend developers. It involves creating a background system that allows you to run several jobs at a time. By setting up good communication between the client and the server, you can perform various tasks while also saving time. Your goal is also to ensure that it only picks up a certain number of jobs to perform to avoid overloading or running into an error.

Create an Event Manager

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Syntax Knowledge, Database Management

In this project, you need to create an event manager that includes necessary data and information to serve as a directory. You may use ERB (Embedded Ruby) as a template and utilize several open source Ruby libraries such as CSV to organize data. 

One of your goals in this project is to set up parameters that will help you segregate incomplete information such as a phone number lacking a digit or incorrect zip codes. Learning how to avoid future problems through building projects like this one will help you become a more effective programmer.

Build a Road Trip Planner

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Database Management, Restful API

This road trip planner will contain destinations, maps, statistics, metrics, and possibly real-time content updates. You will need to have a reliable database when building this application to store data that the user might not delete right away. Additionally, you can add information on rest stops and hotels that the user will find useful on a road trip.

Create a Bot Reminder

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Syntax Knowledge, Restful API

This project will have you create an application that will remind you to do certain daily tasks. In this project, you can create a bot reminder that connects to other applications. This will allow it to sync notifications for tasks. This project typically uses Ruby and PHP.

Create a Tic Tac Toe Game

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Restful API, MVC Framework

This project teaches you how to build a Tic Tac Toe game through Ruby. You can create a game for two players and set up the conditions to win through the object-oriented nature of Ruby. You can also check out other Ruby libraries for creating other types of games.

Advanced Ruby Project Ideas

Push your boundaries in Ruby programming by trying any of these advanced Ruby project ideas. If you are currently building your portfolio, having a complicated project will be attractive to your future employer or school.

Modify an Enumerable

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Syntax Knowledge

This project may seem simple, but it will test the extent of your knowledge of the Ruby syntax by trying to modify an enumerable. Instead of just the simple search and sort function, you can use additional methods that can extend the function of an enumerable. In this assignment, you will discover how to add more categories and parameters as well as how to multiply elements.

Build Your Own Instagram

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Database Management, MVC Framework, Restful API

This project teaches you how to build a powerful social media site like Instagram via Ruby on Rails. In this project, you will learn to program certain functions such as sign up and sign in and edit account settings. You will need to pay more attention to ensure that the profile and feed interface are optimal and that it is powerful enough to load several pictures at once.

Creating a Linked List

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Database Management

This project combines Ruby and some elements of computer science as it deals with creating a strong and reliable database. You need to have an understanding of data structures and how to move arrays and lists without sacrificing the current arrangement. Your goal is to create nodes that will prevent issues in the existing data structure.

Build Your Own Real Estate Property App

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Front End Web Development, Database Management, Restful API

An advantage for projects like this are they test your application development skills. You’ll create functions for sign-in and sign-up. Your application must have the proper security measures in place as you will be collecting sensitive data and information from users. You also need to build an optimal feed that contains photos of properties and complete details about them.

Building a Binary Search Tree

• Ruby Skills Practiced: Syntax Knowledge, Database Management

This is another Ruby project that requires knowledge in computer science as it deals with binary search trees. Through binary search trees, you will be able to maintain data structures and ensure that data and information are properly interconnected. Your finished project would verify that there are no duplicate values that might cause confusion when data is pulled.

Ruby Starter Project Templates

To help you get started on your own Ruby projects, you can use templates made by programmers that already contain essential lines of code. Below are some templates that you may find useful once you select a project to work on.

• ERB Template. You can use this template for a Ruby on Rails project if you intend to create an application like an event manager or anything that involves organizing data and information.
• Rails Template. This Ruby on Rails template is useful for generating files and directories, developing databases, and uploading your project to Git.
• Rails. This template features Ruby on Rails 2.6 and PostgreSQL 11 which will be useful if you are building databases and data-related services.
• Suspenders. This template is useful if you are working with RubyGems to create powerful applications that are compatible with different browsers like Chrome.
• Rails Application Template. This template is commonly used when creating Ruby on Rails applications to achieve a restful API so that you do not have to start from scratch when working on your project.

Next Steps: Start Organizing Your Ruby Portfolio

Building a portfolio as a Ruby programmer is important to display your abilities. Your portfolio should contain relevant projects and detailed descriptions of how you accomplished them. Below are key things to remember when compiling your portfolio.

Keep it Straightforward and Simple

Make sure that your portfolio contains projects related to the position that you are applying for. Do not make it too complicated by putting unnecessary explanations that might confuse the reader. In the explanation, focus on the importance of the projects and the techniques and best practices that you followed to complete them.

Highlight Your Achievements

Your portfolio should contain all of your most impressive projects. Highlight the ones that you are most proud of. Make sure that the details included will capture the attention of employers and others who view your portfolio.

Be Detailed About Your Processes

You need to be detailed about your processes. This will show your level of knowledge and expertise on a subject or skill related to your project. It is also important that you can verbally explain what you write in the portfolio.

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