Product Overview

Simply Rails 2

“Build bulletproof web apps with ease using Ruby on Rails.”

• Build and deploy a fully-featured Web 2.0 application using Ruby on Rails.
• Learn best practice approaches to web application development.
• Use Rails’s Ajax features to create slick interfaces.

	Order the Printed Book and PDF	$49.90 (normally $59.95)
	Order the Printed Book Only	$39.95
	Order the PDF Only	$29.95

Great Value: Buy ‘Simply Rails 2’ in hard copy and get the downloadable PDF edition for only $9.95 extra!

Overview

Simply Rails 2 is an easy-to-follow, practical and fun guide to Ruby on Rails for beginners. It covers all you need to get up and running, from installing Ruby, Rails and SQLite to building and deploying a fully featured web application.

This book will:

• show you how to install Ruby on Rails on Windows, Mac, or Linux
• walk you, step by step, through the development of a Web 2.0 social news application, just like digg.com
• show you how to test, debug, benchmark, and deploy your Rails application

Unlike other Rails books, this book doesn't assume that you are an experienced web developer, or that you've used Ruby before. An entire chapter is devoted to learning Ruby in a fun way, using the interactive Ruby console, so you can follow along at home. You'll be an accomplished Ruby programmer in no time!

This book focuses on the practical parts of Rails that you can use to build next-generation web applications, rather than the obscure features of Rails that no one uses. Learn how to:

• Interact with your database using ActiveRecord and migrations instead of arcane SQL commands.
• Add Ajax and visual effects to your application, using the built-in Prototype and script.aculo.us JavaScript libraries.
• Understand and use a model-view-controller architecture, maximizing code reuse and simplifying code maintenance.

The book uses Rails 2 — the very latest version of Rails — so you can take advantage of all of the latest features of the framework.

Packed with easy-to-understand instructions and sample code, Simply Rails 2 is the ultimate beginner’s guide to Ruby on Rails.

About the author

Between founding the freshmeat.net software portal and spreadheading several community-driven web applications that have been developed using Ruby on Rails, Patrick Lenz has more than a decade's experience in the field. He is a pioneer in architecturing and scaling larger Rails applications and he wrote some of the very first articles to appear on the web on the subject.

What Will You Learn?

This book will teach you how to:

• Program with confidence in the Ruby language.
• Build and deploy a complete Rails web application.
• Exploit the new features available in Rails 2.
• Use Rails' Ajax features to create slick interfaces.
• Reap the benefits of a best-practice MVC architecture.
• Work with databases easily using ActiveRecord.
• Implement RESTful development patterns and clean URLs.
• Create a user authentication system.
• Use object oriented concepts like inheritance and polymorphism.
• Build a comprehensive automated testing suite for your application.
• Add plugins to easily enhance your application's functionality.
• Use migrations to manage your database schema without data loss.
• Achieve maximum code reuse with filters and helper functions.
• Debug your application using the ruby_debug client.
• Analyze your application's performance using the Rails logging infrastructure.
• Benchmark your application to determine performance bottlenecks.

And a whole lot more…

Take a look at the Table of Contents

What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails is a revolutionary web development framework designed to put the fun back into developing web applications.

Ruby is a powerful, object oriented language that makes your code readable and intuitive. Because Rails is written in Ruby, it's incredibly easy to get started with. In fact, it's possible to build a live, fully functional application in a matter of minutes!

Rails takes care of the boring parts of web development, such as database interaction and client-side integration, allowing you to focus on adding cool features to your application.

What's inside

Chapter One: Introducing Ruby on Rails

The first chapter takes a look at the fascinating history of Rails, as well as the key concepts and features that will be built in to the example application.

Chapter Two: Getting Started: Intro

It’s go time! In chapter two you’ll cover the installation of required software and the setup of the Database for the example application.

Chapter Three: Introducing Ruby

Ladies and Gentleman, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Ruby. Chapter three will look at object oriented programming language and more specifically the Ruby syntax.

Chapter Four: Rails Revealed

Forget the ropes, learn the Rails. The fourth chapter digs deeper into the Rails framework and introduces you to model-view-controller architecture.

Chapter Five: Models, Views and Controllers

This is where you’ll generate the first few lines of code. You’ll also create a class for storing data, as well as learning about the interaction between storing and displaying data.

Chapter Six: Helpers, Forms and Layouts

In chapter six you’ll see how the Rails built-in features reduce the amount of code required. You’ll also get stylish, creating a form that incorporates CSS. You’ll learn how to write unit and functional tests.

Chapter Seven: Ajax and Web 2.0

In chapter seven we really get down to business. Learn some nifty Ajax effects that you can add to your application to update parts of a page without reloading it. Learn about the different relationships you can establish between your objects.

Chapter Eight: Protective Measures

Chapter eight shows you how to turn away the ne’er-do-wells by adding user authentication. You’ll also learn about sessions and cookies, as well as the benefits of data migration.

Chapter Nine: Advanced Topics

It’s time to let the example application out of the cage! You’ll get through a truck load of added functionality, and take a look at model call backs and join models.

Chapter Ten: Plugins

This chapter shows you how to add plug-ins so that you can expand the functionality of your application. More advanced model associations are discussed also.

Chapter Eleven: Debugging, Testing and Benchmarking

The eleventh chapter touches on the theory and practice of testing and benchmarking. It outlines why you need to comprehensively test all of your code. You’ll also learn some tips on how to debug your application if something goes wrong.

Chapter Twelve: Deployment

Your shiny new train has been built, now it’s time to take it out of the station. The final chapter explores options for deploying your feature-packed, fully functional application to a production server.

View the Table of Contents

Who Should Read This Book?

Simply Rails 2 is aimed at beginner-to-intermediate web designers and developers who are familiar with HTML and CSS and are looking for a fun, practical book that teaches Ruby on Rails from the beginning. No prior knowledge of server-side technologies such as PHP or Perl is assumed or necessary. Simply Rails 2 is perfect for both designers who want to build web applications, and programmers that are unhappy with the range of programming frameworks that are available. The book discusses the installation of Ruby on Rails on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux – other than that, the only things you need are a text editor and a browser.

Why Use Ruby on Rails?

Ruby On Rails enables you to build robust web applications faster, using less code than other platforms.

As a result of the huge amount of interest in Rails, demand for Rails programmers is on the rise. Learning Ruby on Rails is the smartest thing you could do for your career as a web developer.

Of 5,000 web developers surveyed in 2006, 24% indicated that they wanted to learn more about Ruby — a higher percentage than any other language! [source: The State of Web Development 2006/2007]. Before Rails came along, Ruby was virtually unheard of; now it is being used to power thousands of high-traffic web applications. Yours could be next!

View the Table of Contents

No-risk Money-back Guarantee

Of course we’re so confident that you’ll treasure this book for years to come that we’re happy, as always, for you to try it risk-free for 30 days. If you purchase a copy of Simply Rails 2 and you think it fails to be everything you wanted, we would like you to have your money back.

Simply contact us and we will see to it that you receive a prompt and courteous refund of the full purchase price minus shipping and handling.

What could be fairer than this?

How To Order This Book

The fastest way to get your hands on the most recent version of Simply Rails 2 is by ordering it direct through us, the publisher, for $39.95.

Exclusive from sitepoint.com, for only $9.95 extra you can purchase Simply Rails 2 in a downloadable PDF format to accompany your physical book purchase. Now you can read the entire book while you're waiting for your printed copy to arrive, and you can take the entire book with you on your laptop when you are away from the office!

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