I tried to get started with Rails a few times, it never took. Node was much simpler to wrap my head around. I'm looking for simplicity and Rails is not it.
If you just need to host a static page, then sure something like Express is a much better fit. But most web applications have at least some if not all of the following:
- Auth, sessions, secure cookie handling, etc.
- DB interaction
- View templates, layouts, etc.
- SPA-like interactivity
- Form handling & validation
- File uploads
- Asset handling
- Emails
- Background jobs
- Security (CSRF, XSS, SQL injection, etc.)
- Logging
- Internationalization
- Testing
- Real-time functionality
With Node/Express, you're either searching for other people's libraries to use and integrate, which aren't guaranteed to synergize, or writing it yourself. You have all of that baked into Rails, tucked away neatly so you only have to write and focus on what matters. You also have an opinionated architecture so you know exactly where all the custom business logic should go.
I think if you have extremely simple requirements, or you're at a stage where you want to learn all these things by doing it yourself, it would make sense not to use Rails. But if you want to focus on delivering value ASAP, Rails (or similar frameworks like Django) are for sure the way to go.
I know exactly what you experienced, jumping straight into Rails without knowing how to tame the beast is not worth it. What helped me get started and understand the concept was to follow their guide. Not kidding, it's that good.
