Ruby on Rails For Dummies

✍ Scribed by Barry Burd

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 348
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Barry Burd, Ruby on Rails for Dummies (Wiley, 2007)

You gotta love an author whose domain name is burdbrain. That said, Ruby on Rails for Dummies has exactly the same strengths and weaknesses as the rest of the Rails books I've read over the past few months. The biggest weakness, of course, is that the book is dated, like the vast majority of Rails books. Nothing to be done about it; software moves on, books are static. On the other hand, like the rest of the books, it's a solid tutorial in how to get yourself up and running on (an earlier version of) Rails. The datedness is not normally a huge thing, but since the database access methods have changed between then and now, those coming into this without some supplementary materials may find themselves confused when a number of examples error out. Still, as long as you recognize this and supplement with more recent online tutorials, this is a solid book. ***

✦ Table of Contents

Ruby on Rails For Dummies......Page 1
Table of Contents......Page 12
How to Use This Book......Page 20
What You Don t Have to Read......Page 21
Foolish Assumptions......Page 22
Part II: Creating Code......Page 23
Icons Used in This Book......Page 24
Where to Go from Here......Page 25
Part I: Nuts and Bolts......Page 26
Welcome to the World of Ruby on Rails......Page 28
The Software Development Process......Page 30
Along Comes Ruby on Rails......Page 32
Let’s Get Going......Page 38
Installing the Software......Page 40
Installing the Ruby Interpreter......Page 41
Installing Rails......Page 45
Installing Java......Page 46
Installing RadRails......Page 47
Installing MySQL......Page 55
Installing MySQL Administrator......Page 59
Details on Rails......Page 66
Creating a Database......Page 67
Creating a New Ruby on Rails Project......Page 69
Running Your New Rails Project (Already!)......Page 72
Creating a Model......Page 74
Creating a Database Table......Page 77
Creating a Scaffold......Page 80
Using the New Web Interface......Page 82
Words, Words, Words......Page 86
Some Common RadRails Tasks......Page 91
Troubleshooting the Run of a Ruby Program......Page 103
Part II: Creating Code......Page 106
Ruby One’s Day......Page 108
Hello, Again......Page 109
Working with Values......Page 112
Going with the Flow......Page 114
Bunches of Things......Page 119
Using Methods......Page 123
Objects and Classes......Page 132
Objects Have Methods......Page 136
Enhancing Classes......Page 141
Creating a Module......Page 146
The Working of the Web......Page 148
Your HTML Starter Kit......Page 153
HTML Elements......Page 159
Part III: Real Rails......Page 172
Model/View/Controller......Page 174
The Rails Way of Life......Page 180
Writing What You Want Where You Want It......Page 182
The Controller Shakes Hands with the View......Page 186
Dividing the Work of the View......Page 192
Some Things You Can Do with Models......Page 196
A Web Site for Photos......Page 197
Programming with a Rails Model......Page 201
Modifying a Database......Page 208
More Rails Programming Tricks......Page 211
Displaying an Image......Page 220
Importing Files......Page 233
Image Is Everything......Page 238
Enhancing Your Project’s Code......Page 239
Understanding the Enhanced Code......Page 247
Blogging Your Dreams......Page 252
Validating the Visitor’s Input......Page 254
Adding Comments......Page 256
Adding Keywords......Page 262
Using Ajax......Page 276
Sending E-Mail......Page 282
Creating and Consuming Web Services......Page 288
Part IV: The Part of Tens......Page 296
Ten Ruby Sites......Page 298
Ten Rails Sites......Page 301
Open Classes......Page 304
Duck Typing......Page 305
Blocks......Page 306
Everything Is an Object......Page 307
Mixins......Page 308
Built-In Unit Testing......Page 309
Built-In Reflection......Page 310
Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)......Page 312
Agile Development......Page 313
Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)......Page 314
Using Migrations......Page 315
Using Partials......Page 316
Ten Ways to Override Rails Defaults......Page 318
Overriding the Database Name......Page 319
Overriding a Database Table Name......Page 320
Overriding a Controller Name......Page 322
Overriding the Name of a Table’s Primary Key......Page 323
Using Singular Nouns......Page 324
Creating Irregular Plurals......Page 326
Overriding a Default Layout......Page 327
Creating Additional Web Pages......Page 329
Modifying the Meanings of URLs......Page 330
Changing the Server Environment......Page 331
Index......Page 334