Ruby on Rails is a powerful framework that offers a wealth of features and libraries, but some gems often go unnoticed. Among these are Active Admin, a framework for creating elegant interfaces for managing your data, and Paperclip, which simplifies file uploads to your applications. To enhance your development workflow, consider exploring Dotenv Rails, which allows you to manage environment variables efficiently, keeping your configuration tidy and secure.

Another gem worth mentioning is FriendlyId, which enables you to use human-friendly URLs for your resources, greatly improving SEO and user experience. Don't overlook Better Errors, a gem that improves error pages with an interactive console and detailed stack traces, making debugging much easier. Finally, Ahoy gives you powerful tracking capabilities to analyze user behavior, all while keeping your app's performance in check. These hidden gems can significantly enhance your Ruby on Rails projects.

Building a Rails application that utilizes unconventional APIs can be a rewarding experience that expands your development skills. To begin, it's essential to identify the types of APIs you want to integrate. For instance, you might consider utilizing APIs that are not commonly used in the Rails community, such as the Twitter API for social engagement or the Spotify API for music integration. Once you've selected your API, familiarize yourself with its documentation to understand the endpoints available, authentication methods, and data formats. This knowledge will be vital in setting up your Rails application properly.

After understanding your chosen unconventional APIs, the next step is to set up your Rails app to interact with them. Start by creating a new Rails project using the command rails new my_api_app. Then, install any necessary gems for handling API requests, such as HTTParty or Faraday. Design your controllers to manage incoming requests and responses from the API, ensuring that you handle any errors gracefully. Remember, testing your integration is crucial—consider using tools like RSpec to write tests for your API interactions, ensuring your application behaves as expected.

Ruby on Rails has earned a reputation for its quirky and unconventional approach to web development. One of the standout features is the 'Convention over Configuration' philosophy, which allows developers to make decisions swiftly without needing to configure every little detail. This characteristic lets developers focus more on building robust applications than getting bogged down in boilerplate code. Additionally, the use of Ruby as the programming language adds to this uniqueness; its elegant syntax and expressive capabilities help create cleaner and more maintainable code, making it easier for newcomers to grasp.

Moreover, the Rails framework incorporates a variety of built-in tools and generators that can seem quite quirky to those transitioning from more traditional development environments. For instance, Rails automatically handles tasks like routing, database migrations, and view rendering, allowing developers to follow the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle with ease. This level of abstraction, while empowering, can sometimes lead to confusion and surprise amongst developers who are accustomed to a more hands-on approach. To further illustrate, gem libraries provide a vast ecosystem that encapsulates functionality within shareable packages, each with its own quirks and idiosyncrasies, making the Ruby on Rails experience both rewarding and fascinating.