Ruby is a high-level, interpreted programming language designed for ease of use and readability. It was created by Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto in the mid-1990s and officially released in 1995. Ruby combines elements of Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, and Lisp, aiming to make programming enjoyable and natural.

Key Features:

• Object-Oriented: Everything in Ruby is an object, including primitive data types.

• Elegant Syntax: Ruby emphasizes human-friendly syntax that’s easy to write and understand.

• Dynamic Typing: Variables don’t need explicit type declarations.

• Garbage Collection: Automatic memory management.

• Meta-programming: Powerful reflection and dynamic code execution capabilities.

• Rich Standard Library: Includes many built-in methods and modules.

• Platform Independent: Runs on various operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux).

Common Uses:

• Web development (primarily with the Ruby on Rails framework)

• Automation and scripting

• Data processing

• Prototyping

Popular Framework:

• Ruby on Rails (Rails): A full-stack web development framework that follows the MVC pattern and “Convention over Configuration” philosophy.