How can I use ActiveJob with Rails 4.1?

Question

For reasons (ahem ActiveAdmin), I'm currently unable to use Rails 4.2 on a new project.

However, the ActiveJob feature looks like a nice abstraction, so I'd like to use it if possible.

Does anyone have any experience getting it working with Rails 4.1?

Answer 1

UPDATE

There's a better solution now :), try this gem activejob_backport, easier installation, same functions as rails 4.2.

---

CAUTION: OUTDATED CONTENT BELOW

To use ActiveJob in Rails 4.1, you need to do these first.

# in Gemfile
gem 'activejob'

# in your terminal
bundle

# create a config/initializers/active_job.rb
require 'active_job'
# or any other supported backend such as :sidekiq or :delayed_job
ActiveJob::Base.queue_adapter = :inline

Then you should be able to reference ActiveJob in your rails app, to create and enqueue a job:

# app/jobs/guests_cleanup_job.rb
class GuestsCleanupJob < ActiveJob::Base
  queue_as :default

  def perform(*args)
    # Do something later
  end
end

# usage
GuestsCleanupJob.enqueue(record)
GuestsCleanupJob.enqueue(record, options)

There're some gotchas though, biggest difference is it's not exactly the same ActiveJob inside Rails 4.2.beta, like lacks of generators, callbacks and syntax are a bit different. I've written a blog post if you want to dig more: http://kinopyo.com/blog/use-activejob-in-rails-4-1/