What is Rails asset pipeline fingerprinting?

What is Rails asset pipeline fingerprinting?

Rails asset pipeline fingerprinting is a technique used to manage and serve static assets in a Rails application. It appends a unique fingerprint to asset filenames, which helps with cache busting and ensures that users always receive the latest version of assets.

How does fingerprinting help with caching?

Fingerprinting helps with caching by changing the asset filename whenever the asset content changes. This means that when you update an asset, the filename changes, and browsers will fetch the new version instead of using a cached version.

Can I disable fingerprinting in my Rails app?

Yes, you can disable fingerprinting by setting config.assets.digest to false in your environment configuration file. However, it's generally not recommended as it can lead to caching issues.

What are the benefits of using the asset pipeline?

The asset pipeline provides several benefits, including improved performance through minification and concatenation of assets, easier management of asset dependencies, and automatic fingerprinting for cache busting.