Jason Charnes

A Full Stack Ruby Web Framework - Learn Hanami #0

If you’re familiar with web development, when you hear Ruby you likely associate another word with it: Rails. I’d like to introduce a new word to associate, as well: Hanami

Ruby has been widely successful as a language and Rails has played a part in that. Learning the Rails framework helped transform my career in ways unimaginable. It made me very passionate about the Ruby language.

Outside of Ruby on Rails, though, there isn’t a wide selection of web frameworks for Ruby. Even smaller is the variety of “full-stack” frameworks available for Ruby. That’s okay, though. Ruby on Rails gets the job done, and for a large number of people, it gets the job done well.

Let me ask you, though:

Have you ever felt like you’re pushing the limits?

Do you wish your applications had clear boundaries?

Do you want to try something new without leaving Ruby?

If this is you, keep reading.

Hello, Hanami.

Hanami Logo

Hanami is a modern web framework for Ruby.

Hanami is a full-stack MVC framework boasting simplicity, productivity, maintainability, **fast response times, and security out of the box all while consuming “60% less memory **than other full-featured Ruby frameworks.”

I’ll be covering the specifics of Hanami and how to get started with it at a later time. Today, though, I want to mention two reasons Hanami matters to me.

1. A Different Approach

The only thing that felt familiar when I was learning Hanami was Ruby. Although the framework follows the MVC pattern, it takes some different approaches (which I’ll share in future posts).

I’ve learned new ways to write web applications and to acquire new ways to do what I already love excites me.

However, when I’m used to something, it can also be frustrating when things are different. I can get discouraged if I don’t get it right away. It turns out I’m not alone. Luca Guidi, the creator of Hanami, speaks to this on the Hanami website.

I warn you that whether you’re a total beginner or an experienced developer this learning process can be hard. Over time, we build expectations about how things should be, and it can be painful to change. But without change, there is no challenge and without challenge, there is no growth.

What is the reward for learning Hanami?

  1. Simpler, more maintainable web applications
  2. A fresh mindset for web development

2. Choice

Outside of Rails, there aren’t many choices of full-stack web frameworks. Consider for a moment, the PHP community. Off the top of my head, I can name three full-stack frameworks Laravel, Symphony, and Zend.

However, how many full-stack options exist in Ruby? Not many.

I believe having a choice is an important thing if we want to keep Ruby developers writing Ruby.

Learn Hanami

I’m beginning a series of lessons on getting started. Feel free to check start working through the lessons. If you want to be the first to know as new lessons are released, be sure to provide your email below.

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