Ruby on Rails is better if compared with Python.
You can refer this blog - http://www.allerin.com/blog/ruby-on-rails-vs-other-languages for more details abouit comparision between RoR and other programming languages.
Ruby On Rails, a framework for web application development, written in the Ruby scripting language.
PHP is a scripting language while Ruby on Rails is a framework based on ruby programming language. PHP is easy to learn and code while Ruby is hard to learn and code. PHP Code is a mess and difficult to find particular functions or code while ROR follows systematic development and you can easily find the required function.
Maybe you do, maybe you don't. In your web development toolbox, you may have RoR, PHP, Python, etc. No one can do most jobs any better than another, its upto you which you want to use.
Red or Blue? Ketchup or Mustard? Like any vague question, this one is tough to answer without any context. Most programmers would probably answer along the lines of "use the right tool for the job". Fortunately for you, I'm not most programmers. Seriously though, I asked a very similar question when I wanted to stop trying to bend Java to be a web programming language. I started with Ruby on Rails, but ended up using Django with Python. The big draw for me was that Python as a language has been around long enough to have most of the annoying kinks worked out, and the majority of stupid problems solved. If you just want a general purpose programming language take a good look at Python and the number of mature libraries that can help you do what you want. Or if libraries don't float your boat, see how easy it is to write your own code from the ground up in Python. Python's been doing rapid development since before it was popular.
Ruby On Rails is a completely different scripting engine. In ROR, most of the code is not necessary as the software automatically maps the database data, the script and the template together, as it uses the Model View Controller setup. To achieve the same thing in PHP you need to manually code it.
The career option between PHP and Ruby on Rails developer, is Ruby on Rails because it is the latest and comes with more development tools and modules.
David Heinemeier Hansson in 2005
Ben Rady has written: 'Continuous testing with Ruby, Rails, and JavaScript' -- subject(s): Ruby (Computer program language), Ruby on rails (Electronic resource), Testing, JavaScript (Computer program language), Computer programs
Rails is an extended form of Ruby, which is a simple yet powerful programming language. The creator and development of Ruby on Rails wanted to develop a powerful framework for development of Web applications. The main purpose and goal of Ruby on Rails was to give developers more freedom for creativity and reduce the menial and complications of code.
Simply look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_internet_forum_software_(other) In the programming language column, just look at which ones say "Ruby". Those forums run on Ruby on Rails. Twitter is working on Ruby on Rails.
Simple, direct, economical language
If you mean web applications Google Calendar is a good example,Horde groupware is another open source application.If you mean a web based programming language there are a numerous examples like ASP, ASP.NET,CGI, ColdFusion,JSP/Java, PHP, Perl,Python, Ruby on Rails or Struts2