Why would I want to use unicorn or thin instead of WEBrick for development purposes?
I've recently found that some people prefer using unicorn_rails instead of the default WEBrick as a web server for developing Rails applications.
I understand that if I wanted to use unicorn in production, it could make kind of sense to try it out in development, but since the configuration is different in production, is it even relevant?
Is there any real, tangible advantage that I would get from using thin or unicorn instead of WEBrick for developing a Rails application, such as speed or some additional features? Or is this just a matter of personal preference?
Answer
It is important to develop as closely as possible to the production environment. It helps ensure that an application will work as expected when deployed into production, instead of stumbling upon bugs at runtime.
This issue is alleviated with the use of Continuous Testing on a Build server that replicates the production environment. Even though you are not actively developing on an identical environment, the Continuous Testing gives you coverage that the application is functioning in the expected way.
As to speed, the performance hit running a Rails app in development mode will negate any benefit the various web servers brings.