-The word is out: with Ruby on Rails you can build powerful Web applications easily and quickly! And just like the Rails framework itself, Rails applications are Ruby... read more

-The word is out: with Ruby on Rails you can build powerful Web applications easily and quickly! And just like the Rails framework itself, Rails applications are Ruby programs. That means you can't tap into the full power of Rails unless you master the Ruby language.

Ruby for Rails, written by Ruby expert David Black (with a forward by David Heinemeier Hansson), helps Rails developers achieve Ruby mastery. Each chapter deepens your Ruby knowledge and shows you how it connects to Rails. You'll gain confidence working with objects and classes and learn how to leverage Ruby's elegant, expressive syntax for Rails application power. And you'll become a better Rails developer through a deep understanding of the design of Rails itself and how to take advantage of it.

Newcomers to Ruby will find a Rails-oriented Ruby introduction that's easy to read and that includes dynamic programming techniques, an exploration of Ruby objects, classes, and data structures, and many neat examples of Ruby and Rails code in action. Ruby for Rails: the Ruby guide for Rails developers!

What's Inside

Classes, modules, and objects

Collection handling and filtering

String and regular expression manipulation

Exploration of the Rails source code

Ruby dynamics

Many more programming concepts and techniques! (hide)

The definitive, Jolt-award winning guide to learning and using Rails is now in its Second Edition. Rails is a new approach to web-based application development that enables developers... read more

The definitive, Jolt-award winning guide to learning and using Rails is now in its Second Edition. Rails is a new approach to web-based application development that enables developers to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications using less code and less effort. Now programmers can get the job done right and still leave work on time.

NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION: The book has been updated to take advantage of all the new Rails 1.2 features. The sample application uses migrations, Ajax, features a REST interface, and illustrates new Rails features. There are new chapters on migrations, active support, active record, and action controller (including the new resources-based routing). The Web 2.0 and Deployment chapters have been completely rewritten to reflect the latest thinking. Now you can learn which environments are best for your style application, and see how Capistrano makes managing your site simple. All the remaining chapters have been extensively updated. Finally, hundreds of comments from readers of the first edition have been incorporated, making this book simply the best available.

Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications with a twist...you can create a full Rails application using less code than the setup XML you'd need just to configure some other frameworks.

With this book, you'll learn how to use Rails Active Record 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, talk to web services, and interact dynamically with JavaScript applications running in the browser (the "Ajax" architecture).

You'll see how easy it is to deploy Rails. You'll be writing applications that work with your favorite database (MySQL, Oracle, Postgres, and more) in no time at all. (hide)

If you are a web developer who has already realized the power of Ruby on Rails but wants to take your Rails knowledge further, this book will be... read more

If you are a web developer who has already realized the power of Ruby on Rails but wants to take your Rails knowledge further, this book will be invaluable to you. Practical Rails Projects assumes you know the basics of using the framework, concentrating instead on taking you through the creation of a multitude of practical real-world examples, including a blog, a personal organizer, a calendar, a PHP site retrofitted to Rails, and much more. Each example application follows best practices, gives a nod to style as well as functionality, and takes advantage of many Rails plug-ins, Rails engines, and Ruby Gems. There is also discussion of cutting-edge Rails functionality, such as the new REST implementation and Active Resource.

The book starts off by taking you through setup of an ideal development environment as a helpful recap, before diving into the projects straight afterwards.

• Takes you through the creation of several real-world Rails web applications.
• Provides a guide to setting up a perfect development environment with Rails and SQLite or MySQL, supporting Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems.
• Doesn't waste time on the basics&emdash;assumes you know the fundamentals of Ruby and Rails already.
• Covers the newest Rails functionality, such as new plug-ins and engines, as well as the Rails REST implementation and Active Resource.

What you'll learn

• How to set up Rails for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
• How to use Rails with both MySQL and SQLite databases
• How to incorporate the latest plug-ins, engines, and Ruby Gems into your applications, saving you hours of development time
• How to make consistent styling of your applications a walk in the park using the Yahoo YUI
• How to retrofit a PHP site to Rails
• How to add sparkle to your applications using Ajax techniques
• How to use cutting-edge Rails functionality such as REST and Active Resource

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone who has gone beyond the basics of Rails and wants to learn higher-level Rails techniques. It is also useful for those experienced in other disciplines (such as Java and PHP) who want to learn Rails.

About the Apress Practical Series

The Practical series from Apress is your best choice for getting the job done, period. From professional to expert, this series lets you apply project-motivated templates (or frameworks) step by step in a very direct, practical, and efficient manner toward current real-world projects that may be sitting on your desk. So whatever your career goal, Apress can be your trusted guide to take you where you want to go on your IT career empowerment path.

Related Titles from Apress

• Beginning Ruby on Rails: From Novice to Professional
• Practical Ruby on Rails Social Networking Sites
• Beginning Ruby on Rails E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional

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