Product Description

Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications, but with a twist... A full Rails application probably has less total code than the XML you'd need to configure the same application in other frameworks. With this book you'll learn how to use ActiveRecord to connect business objects and database tables. No more painful object-relational mapping. Just create your business objects and let Rails do the rest. You'll learn how to use the Action Pack framework to route incoming requests and render pages using easy-to-write templates and components. See how to exploit the Rails service frameworks to send emails, implement web services, and create dynamic, user-centric web-pages using built-in Javascript and Ajax support. There are extensive chapters on testing, deployment, and scaling. You'll see how easy it is to install Rails using your web server of choice (such as Apache or lighttpd) or using its own included web server. You'll be writing applications that work with your favorite database (MySQL, Oracle, Postgres, and more) in no time at all. You'll create a complete online store application in the extended tutorial section, so you'll see how a full Rails application is developed---iteratively and rapidly. Rails strives to honor the Pragmatic Programmer's "DRY Principle" by avoiding the extra work of configuration files and code annotations. You can develop in real-time: make a change, and watch it work immediately. Forget XML. Everything in Rails, from templates to control flow to business logic, is written in Ruby, the language of choice for programmers who like to get the job done well (and leave work on time for a change). Rails is the framework of choice for the new generation of Web 2.0 developers. Agile Web Development with Rails is the book for that generation, written by Dave Thomas (Pragmatic Programmer and author of Programming Ruby) and David Heinemeier Hansson, who created Rails.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177255 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 450 pages

Review
"It's early days for the language so it's no surprise there's only a handful of books out there. Yet it's hard to see why you would need anything more than Agile Web Development with Rails. Programming books, in particular, rarely seem to answer queries straight away, but this one tackles the myths surrounding Rails straight off, and in plain English. But don't panic, it's not a Dummies guide - it will teach you how to use Rails to eliminate tedious web app configuration and, crucially, how to integrate it into AJAX." .NET, December 2005

From the Publisher
Join the revolution. See how easy it is use Rails: the new full-stack, open-source web framework. Rails enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications with less total code than the XML you'd need to configure the same application in other frameworks.

About the Author
Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt have more than 50 years combined experience, developing software for clients around the world. For the last 10 years they've been working together as The Pragmatic Programmers, helping clients write software and improve their development processes. They are authors of the best-selling The Pragmatic Programmer, and have written several other books. They speak at conferences globally, and are editors of IEEE Software's "Construction" column. Mike Clarkis a consultant, author, speaker, and programmer. He is the author of Pragmatic Project Automation (The Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2004), editor of PragmaticAutomation.com, a frequent speaker at software development conferences, and the creator of several popular open source tools. Mike helps teams build better software faster through his company, Clarkware Consulting.

Customer Reviews

Rails is changing the industry
If you're a good Rails developer with experience, you won't lack for work nowadays (I am looking for people all the time it seems). This book has everything you need to become a good Rails developer. The experience bit is left as a reader exercise.

The cute thing about this book is how it was developed. A few months ago it was released in a "beta" PDF form and sold to early adopters. The beta readers sent back lots of corrections, suggestions, and so forth.. and, wow, the book has undergone radical changes. It's precise, it's correct, and it's totally "canon" on the standards of developing in Ruby on Rails. It ought to be though, the developer of Rails is a co-author!

I'm not going to go into what Rails is, or even what it does, as you shouldn't be here unless you know. If you need more information, go to the official Rails site which goes into it all in detail. But, this book is ace. You will not be wasting your money here if you want to be involved in the next massive thing in Web development. Put down your PHP books, and get involved in the exciting world of Rails.. your bank manager will thank you.

The only place to start with RubyOnRails
This book is co-authored by the creator of Rails, David Heinemeier Hansson, with the Dave Thomas, the author of 'Programming Ruby' (otherwise known as The PickAxe book).

You simply cannot go wrong with this one, it is written assuming you know nothing about Rails or Ruby and gives a fantastic introduction to them both, but especially to Rails.

Starting out with 'Hello World' and then building a useful web application called 'Depot', an online store, explaining at a good level what is going on in the framework at all times it then finishes off with some more advanced chapters on Active Record (the model), Deployment and Scaling etc...

What I like about Ruby on Rails, that this book communicated so well to me, coming from a mainly Perl (with a little Java experience) background, is the great advantages of Model View Controller architecture, Object Relational Mapping, Test Driven Development and other topics without ever talking down or over-complicating as so many techie books seem to do.

Other good chapters include: 'Web 2.0 (with AJAX)', 'Web Services with Rails', 'Securing your Application' and an 'Introduction to Ruby' which is based on The PickAxe tutorial.

To learn more about Ruby, once you have completed this book, (and you will complete it as Rails is such a great technology you will simply want to know more about Ruby to get deeper into Rails!) you should get Dave Thomas's 'Programming Ruby'.

Brilliant pace for quick results
I am working through the examples in the book and find the pace is spot-on. When I start learning a new language, library or framework, I like to see quick results and then delve deeper to learn the details. That's how Rails works and it's how this book works. I am learning Rails very quickly and am continually amazed at the power of this remarkable framework. For anyone who wants to learn Rails, I can highly recommend this book. It isn't essential to know much Ruby before starting this book, but if you are new to the language, then Dave Thomas' "Programming Ruby" is an excellent companion.