Product Overview

Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications

“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.

Instant Download!
This title available in Adobe PDF format only

*Note: Free PDF offer expired:

Overview

Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications 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 MySQL 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 1.2 — 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, Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications is the ultimate beginner's guide to Ruby on Rails.

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.

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

Who Should Read This Book?

Build Your Own Ruby On Rails Web Applications is ideal for beginner-to-intermediate web designers and developers who are familiar with HTML and want a practical, results-driven book that teaches Ruby on Rails from the ground up.

The book is written in the usual SitePoint style: it's clear and fun to read, with plenty of example code that you can apply immediately to your own web sites.

There's no need to re-type any of the code from the book. As always, all customers will receive instant download access to all the code and files used in the book — you can apply them immediately to your own projects.

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 1.2.
• Use Rails' Ajax features to create slick interfaces.
• Reap the benefits of a best-practice MVC architecture.
• Work with databases easily using ActiveRecord.
• 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.
• Implement caching to alleviate database performance issues.
• Use migrations to manage your database schema without data loss.
• Achieve maximum code reuse with filters and helper functions.
• Implement clean URLs and generate permalinks.
• Debug your application using the breakpoint 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

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 Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications and you don’t think it’s everything you wanted, we would like you to have your money back.

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

What could be fairer than this?

How To Order This Book

Unfortunately, this book is no longer available!

The 1st edition of Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications was a fine book but we replaced it with a new and updated edition in May 2008.

We don’t sell the old version now, but check out the new edition if you're looking for an updated book along the same lines.