Getting Started with Ruby on Rails can be an exciting journey for beginners looking to enter the world of web development. Ruby on Rails, often referred to as Rails, is a powerful web application framework written in the Ruby programming language. Its convention over configuration philosophy allows developers to build robust applications quickly and efficiently. To begin your journey, you should first install Ruby and Rails on your machine. You can do this by following the official installation guides which ensure that you have the necessary environments set up.

Once you have Ruby on Rails installed, it's time to create your first application. You can do this by opening your command line interface and running the command rails new myapp, where 'myapp' is the name of your application. This creates a new Rails application with the default folder structure and files needed to get started. After that, navigate into your application directory with cd myapp and start the Rails server using rails server. Once your server is running, you can visit http://localhost:3000 in your web browser to see your new application live!

When it comes to enhancing your Ruby on Rails development experience, using the right tools is crucial. Gems are libraries that can add functionality and streamline your coding process. Here are the Top 5 Ruby on Rails Gems that can significantly boost your development:

1. Devise: This gem is a flexible authentication solution that simplifies user management and handles everything from user sign-ups to password resets.
2. Pundit: For robust authorization handling, Pundit offers a straightforward and understandable approach to managing user permissions.
3. ActiveAdmin: Creating an administration interface for your Rails applications is a breeze with ActiveAdmin, allowing for easy CRUD operations.
4. PaperTrail: This gem enables versioning for your Active Record models, so you can maintain a history of changes and restore previous versions easily.
5. Sidekiq: Improve your app’s performance by handling background jobs with Sidekiq, which makes processing asynchronous tasks quick and efficient.

When developing with Ruby on Rails, many developers fall into common pitfalls that can hinder the performance and maintainability of their applications. One major mistake is neglecting the Rails conventions. Rails is built on the principle of conventions over configuration, and when developers stray from these conventions, they may face challenges later on. To avoid this, it’s essential to adhere to the default naming conventions for models, controllers, and database tables. Moreover, failing to use ActiveRecord effectively can lead to inefficient database queries. Make sure to leverage built-in methods and associations to optimize data retrieval.

Another frequent misstep revolves around improper asset management. Many developers overlook the asset pipeline, which can lead to performance issues due to unnecessary asset loading. To sidestep this error, ensure that you are precompiling assets and minimizing JavaScript and CSS files. Moreover, be cautious with gem dependencies; adding too many gems can bloat your application. Regularly audit your gems, removing or replacing any that are unnecessary or outdated to keep your application lean and efficient.