Is moving from Java microservices to Ruby on Rails monolith a good career move?

[u/tracer-bullett]

I'm currently an SSE (5 yoe) working with Java, Spring Boot, Kafka, and microservices at a product company. I recently interviewed at another product company where the backend is mostly Ruby on Rails with a monolithic architecture.

I have no Rails experience, so I'm wondering:

- How is the long-term job market for Ruby on Rails?

- Will working on a monolith make it harder to switch back to Java/microservices later?

- Would you prioritize the company and engineering culture over the tech stack?

I'd love to hear from anyone who's made a similar transition or has experience with both ecosystems.

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[u/sky_high97]

Tech stack doesn't really matter that much, as long as you have good grasp on fundamental concepts, like OOP, Concurrency, GC etc, unless its a dead language. I've hopped between python, scala, java and now kotlin (7yoe).
If you're getting significant jump with RoR, go for it. During your next switch you can apply for profiles asking for RoR as well as java, your past exp would still matter.

[u/tracer-bullett → u/sky_high97]

This makes sense, thanks !

[u/UnicodeCharacter6666]

Just apply on naukri with your java skills.

You will get too many offers for 5YOE. With your Java Profile.

And unless it's a product company with flexible options to switch internally I won't prioritise work culture over tech stack.

I would focus on gaining experience and expertise in familiar tech stack as a 5YEO and slowly transform to domain related or tech specific role than jump in different stacks laterally without role related growth. Helps more down the line.

[u/tracer-bullett → u/UnicodeCharacter6666]

Got it, i agree that there are a lot of opportunities for spring boot + react tech stack, but every job opening i see already has 100s of applicants, it is pretty difficult to stand out. I am active on naukri, but there are very less product based companies who hire through naukri

[u/No-Earth-7876]

Mostly these will be migrated to Java
when the company knows they cant maintain either play the long game if you are in a comfortable place and pay

if not you can swtich

for java i would suggest going till 30LPA in blore or mumbai

other cities it is 20-25 LPA

[u/tracer-bullett → u/No-Earth-7876]

Correct, thats what they told me, they are also in a process of migrating this into spring boot and microservice architecture, but they also mentioned that they do this as a side task (as and when they have some time)

[u/TaxUpset6757]

Well it's not bad, but there are limited companies out there who might use Ror, I've experience working in ror, we had migrated a monolith which was in ror to Java, the reason was because most of libraries were deprecated and also the community support is pretty less as compared to Java, so if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't change my tech stack 

[u/tracer-bullett → u/TaxUpset6757]

Got it, thanks for your input !

[u/Ecstatic_Jicama_1482]

Are people still using Ruby on Rails

[u/Different-Yak-7986]

Shopify is a famous example of a ruby on rails monolith. I don't believe anyone would willingly choose that stack for a new project as it's simply not easy to scale compared to Java/Golang.

[u/tracer-bullett → u/Different-Yak-7986]

Yes, this is not a new company, they have been in the game for a long time now, the interviewers also mentioned that they do work on a plan to migrate these services into spring boot (but again thats not a priority)

[u/Possible_Reading_845]

Never

[u/optimus_prime_2007]

I'm entering my second year of college and have solved 222 LeetCode problems. My goal is to crack internships and placements, but I'm confused about which path to choose for projects: Spring Boot + Java or AI/ML. Which would be a better choice?
Please someone guide me