Synopses & Reviews
“
Ruby on Rails™ 3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example by Michael Hartl has become a must read for developers learning how to build Rails apps.”
—Peter Cooper, Editor of Ruby Inside
Using Rails 3, developers can build web applications of exceptional elegance and power. Although its remarkable capabilities have made Ruby on Rails one of the world’s most popular web development frameworks, it can be challenging to learn and use. Ruby on Rails™ 3 Tutorial is the solution. Leading Rails developer Michael Hartl teaches Rails 3 by guiding you through the development of your own complete sample application using the latest techniques in Rails web development.
Drawing on his experience building RailsSpace, Insoshi, and other sophisticated Rails applications, Hartl illuminates all facets of design and implementation—including powerful new techniques that simplify and accelerate development.
You’ll find integrated tutorials not only for Rails, but also for the essential Ruby, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and SQL skills you’ll need when developing web applications. Hartl explains how each new technique solves a real-world problem, and he demonstrates this with bite-sized code that’s simple enough to understand, yet novel enough to be useful. Whatever your previous web development experience, this book will guide you to true Rails mastery.
This book will help you
- Install and set up your Rails development environment
- Go beyond generated code to truly understand how to build Rails applications from scratch
- Learn Test Driven Development (TDD) with RSpec
- Effectively use the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern
- Structure applications using the REST architecture
- Build static pages and transform them into dynamic ones
- Master the Ruby programming skills all Rails developers need
- Define high-quality site layouts and data models
- Implement registration and authentication systems, including validation and secure passwords
- Update, display, and delete users
- Add social features and microblogging, including an introduction to Ajax
- Record version changes with Git and share code at GitHub
- Simplify application deployment with Heroku
Review
RailsTutorial.org: Michael Hartl’s awesome new Rails Tutorial The Ruby on Rails™3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example by Michael Hartl has become a must read for developers learning how to build Rails apps.
—Peter Cooper, editor of Ruby Inside
Very detailed and hands-on Rails Tutorial!
Great job! I’m learning Rails, and found your tutorial to be one of the most detailed and hands-on guides. Besides many details of Rails, it also taught me about Git, Heroku, RSpec, Webrat, and most important (at least to me), it emphasized the Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodology. I learned a lot from your tutorial. Keep up the good job! Thanks so much for sharing it.
—Albert Liu, senior manager, Achievo Corporation.
Ruby on Rails Tutorial is the best!
Just wanted to say that your Ruby on Rails tutorial is the best! I’ve been trying for a while to wrap my head around Rails. Going through your tutorial, I’m finally feeling comfortable in the Rails environment. Your pedagogical style of gradually introducing more complex topics while at the same time giving the reader the instant gratification and a sense of accomplishment with working examples really works for me. I also like the tips and suggestions that give me a sense of learning from a real Rails insider. Your e-mail response to a problem I ran into is an example of your generous sharing of your experience.
—Ron Bingham, CEO, SounDBuytz
I love the writing style of the Rails Tutorial
I love the writing style of the Rails Tutorial, and there is so much content that is different from other Rails books out there, making it that much more valuable...Thanks for your work!
—Allen Ding
Synopsis
Use Michael Hartl’s Acclaimed Video Lessons and Best-Selling Book Side by Side to Master Rails Fast!
- LiveLessons™ DVD with 18+ hours of video instruction–a $150 value
- Michael Hartl’s Ruby on Rails™ 3 Tutorial, the #1 hands-on guide to Rails web programming–a $40 value
A $190 value, this package delivers instant skills, answers, and solutions from 18+ hours of video LiveLessons (a $150 value)…plus deeper insights from Ruby on Rails™ 3 Tutorial, the #1 Rails development guide (a $40 value).
About the LiveLessons DVD
These focused video lessons help you learn crucial new skills fast–and put them to work immediately! Watch top Rails developer Michael Hartl guide you through building a complete application using today’s best practices for MVC and REST design, layout, Ruby coding, security, testing, deployment, and more. Just place the DVD video in your computer’s DVD drive, and master Rails the easy way.
About the Author
Michael Hartl is a programmer, educator, and entrepreneur. He coauthored RailsSpace, a best-selling Rails tutorial book published in 2007, and was cofounder and lead developer of Insoshi, a popular social networking platform based on Rails. He taught theoretical and computational physics at the California Institute of Technology for six years, earning the Caltech Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching. A Harvard graduate, he holds a Ph.D. in physics from Caltech, and is an alumnus of the Y Combinator entrepreneur program.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Derek Sivers xv Foreword by Obie Fernandez xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Author xxi
Chapter 1: From Zero to Deploy 1
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Up and Running 9
1.3 Version Control with Git 24
1.4 Deploying 35
1.5 Conclusion 40
Chapter 2: A Demo App 41
2.1 Planning the Application 41
2.2 The Users Resource 44
2.3 The Microposts Resource 58
2.4 Conclusion 69
Chapter 3: Mostly Static Pages 71
3.1 Static Pages 74
3.2 Our First Tests 84
3.3 Slightly Dynamic Pages 103
3.4 Conclusion 115
3.5 Exercises 116
Chapter 4: Rails-Flavored Ruby 119
4.1 Motivation 119
4.2 Strings and Methods 125
4.3 Other Data Structures 134
4.4 Ruby Classes 144
4.5 Exercises 154
Chapter 5: Filling in the Layout 157
5.1 Adding Some Structure 157
5.2 Layout Links 177
5.3 User Signup: A First Step 186
5.4 Conclusion 191
5.5 Exercises 191
Chapter 6: Modeling and Viewing Users, Part I 193
6.1 User Model 194
6.2 User Validations 210
6.3 Viewing Users 227
6.4 Conclusion 236
6.5 Exercises 237
Chapter 7: Modeling and Viewing Users, Part II 239
7.1 Insecure Passwords 239
7.2 Secure Passwords 250
7.3 Better User Views 262
7.4 Conclusion 279
7.5 Exercises 280
Chapter 8 Sign Up 283
8.1 Signup Form 283
8.2 Signup Failure 292
8.3 Signup Success 305
8.4 RSpec Integration Tests 313
8.5 Conclusion 321
8.6 Exercises 321
Chapter 9: Sign In, Sign Out 325
9.1 Sessions 325
9.2 Signin Failure 332
9.3 Signin Success 338
9.4 Signing Out 354
9.5 Conclusion 363
9.6 Exercises 363
Chapter 10: Updating, Showing, and Deleting Users 365
10.1 Updating Users 365
10.2 Protecting Pages 376
10.3 Showing Users 384
10.4 Destroying Users 399
10.5 Conclusion 408
10.6 Exercises 409
Chapter 11: User Microposts 411
11.1 A Micropost Model 411
11.2 Showing Microposts 425
11.3 Manipulating Microposts 434
11.4 Conclusion 457
11.5 Exercises 458
Chapter 12: Following Users 461
12.1 The Relationship Model 463
12.2 A Web Interface for Following and Followers 482
12.3 The Status Feed 507
12.4 Conclusion 519
12.5 Exercises 523
Index 527