Rails 4: before_filter vs. before_action

Solution 1:

As we can see in ActionController::Base, before_action is just a new syntax for before_filter.

However the before_filter syntax is deprecated in Rails 5.0 and will be removed in Rails 5.1

Solution 2:

It is just syntax difference, in rails app there is CRUD, and seven actions basically by name index, new, create, show, update, edit, destroy.

Rails 4 make it developer friendly to change syntax before filter to before action.

before_action call method before the actions which we declare, like

before_action :set_event, only: [:show, :update, :destroy, :edit]

set_event is a method which will call always before show, update, edit and destroy.

Solution 3:

It is just a name change. before_action is more specific, because it gets executed before an action.