YJIT and RJIT in Ruby on Rails

Selecting the Right JIT Compiler for Your Rails Applications

Ruby on Rails has long been admired for its simplicity and elegance, making it a favorite among web developers. However, one common critique has been its performance. Enter Just-In-Time (JIT) compilers like YJIT and RJIT, designed to turbocharge Ruby’s execution speed. In this article, we’ll delve into what YJIT and RJIT are and guide you on when to use each in your Ruby on Rails projects.

YJIT: The Built-in Speed Enhancer

YJIT, short for “Yet Another Just-In-Time” compiler, is a recent innovation in the Ruby world. Integrated into the CRuby interpreter, YJIT represents a significant leap in Ruby’s performance optimization journey.

Features of YJIT:

Integrated with CRuby: As a built-in component of the standard Ruby interpreter, YJIT doesn’t require external tools or extensive setup.

Low Warm-Up Time: YJIT is designed to start improving performance almost immediately after your application boots, making it ideal for short-lived tasks.

Dynamic Compilation: It compiles Ruby bytecode into machine code on the fly, optimizing the most frequently used code paths for speed.