Customer Reviews

Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All I can say is WOW!!! I am a Ruby and Rails Newbie and I have been searching for an introductory text to both Ruby and Rails for several weeks. For context, I have moderate programming language (but minimal web development) experience. I purchased the following texts (in order): Agile Web Development With Rails, Rails Solutions, Ruby For Rails, and Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications. Each has it's strengths, and I am sure that I will be able to draw something of significance from each; however, after working through much of Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications, this is clearly the introductory text I have been searching for.

The book provides a well balanced presentation and sequencing of Ruby and Rails basics followed by practical application within "Shovell" - your very own Digg clone sample application. Some key topics covered in the book:

* Installation -- Complete instructions are provided for installing and configuring Ruby, Rails, and MySQL on Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS X.

* Ruby basics -- this topic is presented as a minimal introduction with additional information provided as the text progresses. In fact, the entire text progresses in easily digestible, but meaningful increments which goes a long way to avoid information overload. Additionally, the Interactive Ruby shell (irb) is introduced and used to allow hands-on experimentation with the language features that are being explained. I found this very helpful in learning the basics as it allowed me to play around with the language features and answer my own questions through experimentation.

* MVC architecture -- the book does good job of introducing and explaining the Model-View-Controller architecture and it's implementation within Rails without getting bogged down in extraneous theory or details. This is probably too light for experienced developers, but in my opinion, just right for the newbie.

* Rails 1.2 basic features and conventions -- this is a big deal as newbies are likely to be stymied by warnings and errors associated with superceded pre-1.2 features. I know this all too well as (with other books -notably Rails Solutions) I have pulled my hair out trying figure out why I didn't get the same results that were printed in the book. Thankfully, Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications spares the newbie from this added complication. Like the presentation of Ruby basics, the Rails introduction includes the use of the Rails console which is a great way to learn the basics by "geting your hands dirty" with Rails.

* Generators and Migrations -- after working through the manual creation of a few database, model and view examples (using direct SQL, and the Rails console) the book introduces the use of some key productivity tools provided by Rails -namely generators and migrations. This sequence helped me to better appreciate both the benefits (and some limitations) of these Rails features.

* AJAX -- Like the Ruby and Rails topics, AJAX is covered in a very accessible manner -- explaining what it is, how it works, and how to use it to do meaningful things in Rails (all without overloading the newbie with complex theory, jargon or head-spinning detail). I know I will need to get a text on AJAX at some point -- not to understand it or to figure out ow to use it, but to figure out how to get *more* out of it -- however, for now I am good with AJAX for what I want to do with Rails.

* Testing -- Like the other topics, the book introduces Rails unit, functional and integration test features without diverging into a heavy text on testing. The author makes it clear that he is not trying to demonstrate Test Driven Design, but instead is trying to (1) emphasize the importance of testing, and (2) present an accessible approach to testing for the beginner. For me, he has succeeded -- the subject was presented in a manner that made it seem like a natural extension of programming with Rails and not another obstacle to my learning process. Net-net: I'm convinced that the incremental testing approach using Rails automated test features is so easy that it's a no brainer.

* Dynamic web site development -- while the book does not claim to teach this explicitly, that is exactly what you are doing when developing web applications with rails. All the elements are there: HTML, CSS, XML, databases, and server and client code. I previously tried to learn dynamic web site development using PHP, HTML, MySQL and CSS, but frankly got bogged down in PHP syntax while also trying get my head around learning all those different elements (HTML, MySQL and CSS) simultaneously. I am not experiencing that problem using this book. It's probably a combination of the excellent text, as well as Ruby/Rails -- Rails Helpers minimize HTML and MySQL learning curve, and embedded Ruby is a lot easier to get my head around than PHP.

There is certainly more to the book, but these are the essentials as I see it.

To top it off, all of this material is delivered in entertaining and consistently accessible prose. To be balanced (but in no way qualifying my enthusiastic endorsement) the text is not perfect --there are a handful of code and text errors -- so check the book's sitepoint page for errata.

My game plan is now set: (A) work through the basics with Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications, (B) follow with Agile Web Development With Rails to learn how to leverage Rails productivity features, and (C) utilize the other texts as supplemental references. Thanks to Patrick Lenz and Sitepoint this Newbie is now on his way to Ruby and Rails proficiency!

UPDATE TO INITIAL REVIEW:

Several months after submitting this review my perspective has not changed -- even after reading several newer Ruby and Rails books. However, I would supplement the reading list and offer the following as my choice for the definitive Ruby on Rails canon (for learning and becoming productive with Rails):

1. Best Rails beginner book: Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications, by Patrick Lenz
2. Best Rails intermediate book: Agile Web Development With Rails, by Dave Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson
3. Best Rails reference book: Practical Rails Projects, by Eldon Alameda
4. Best Ruby learning and reference book: The Ruby Way, by Hal Fulton

I am now on my third Rails application and find myself consistently referring to #2 for Rails best practices, #3 for RESTful design/development guidance & practical solutions to common programming challenges, and #4 for hardcore Ruby guidance.

The book is marketed as "the ultimate beginner's guide to Ruby on Rails", and while I don't know that I would go quite that far, it is definitely a good introduction, especially if you are new to Ruby. I felt it spent about three or four chapters too many on introductory matter (you don't really start doing anything with Rails itself until chapter 5) but once the book gets started it does a good job of helping you get a new Rails application off the ground.

* It was written for Rails 1.2, making it one of the few books available covering the newest version of the framework.

* It encourages unit and functional tests. Patrick mentions TDD(Test-Driven Development), but does not follow it in the book, which is probably for the best in a book targeting people with little prior programming experience. Instead, each chapter ends with a section in which he walks through the process of adding tests for the features added in that chapter. Effective, but only as a step towards learning better testing practices.

* It makes good use of the code generators and migrations, demonstrating their strengths well.

* It shows how to use RJS templates to implement Ajaxed features, and the respond_to method to implement graceful degradation for browsers without Javascript enabled.

* It shows how to implement a basic user authentication system _without resorting to plugins_! Far, far too many newcomers to Rails jump on the user-auth plugin bandwagon, which leads to cargo-culting. My advice is: _never use a plugin you would not be able to write yourself._ (Later in the book Patrick uses the acts_as_taggable plugin to implement tagging, but ultimately the point of the chapter was to show how to use plugins.)

* It walks you through setting up your first production environment. Although it doesn't use Capistrano (which would be well beyond the scope of the book), it does _mention_ Capistrano, as well as many other possible deployment environments (including SCGI, Mongrel, nginx, and more).

So, are you new to Ruby and Rails? Want to learn how to write dynamic web applications? This book will suit you nicely. However, if you have prior experience with building Rails apps, you'll probably find this book too simple for your own needs.

I like the book and I am finding that I am learning wellfrom this book. BUT... this must have been a rush job, because there are so many errors in this book I just had to write a review. I have never written a review before, but I have wasted so much time with all the code errors everywhere that I just had to say something. Even the errata reference section online are a little cryptic.
I think some of the built in functionality is not repeated often enough, so you have to keep flicking back to figure out what a statement means. (example-naming conventions of symbols,tables,columns,fixtures,controllers,views,partials,etc..)
some suggestions.
1. install the exact same version of ruby on rails as the author.
2. Make corrections in the book before you start any coding.
3. Don't try to make minor changes, as it will bite you in the rear later.

First and foremost, I would like to thank both Patrick and previous reviewers for supplying such instrumental material to get me up and running with Rails.

I had begun to read 'Agile Web Development With Rails' and found myself asking 'Why?' several times in response to explanations given throughout the tutorial. I realized after getting about halfway through the tutorial that I was learning Rails, but perhaps not as effectively as I could. I have more unfinished computer books sitting on my shelf than I care to admit to, but I must say that Patrick's book is the first book that I have read cover to cover in 10 years (yes, I did say 10 years).

It does a tremendous job of answering the 'Why?' questions that I had that were answered what seemed like immediately after I asked them. It was as if the author knew where his students would have questions and addressed them appropriately. It was a great mix of practical Rails methodology along with software development methodology (testing, best practice, recommendations, etc). At the completion of the book, I felt like I was armed with enough knowledge to venture out into the world of Rails.

This book will not (in my opinion) make you a Rails expert, but it is a very concise book that is packed with useful information that touches on all the necessities (and then some) of getting a web application setup, developed, tested, and deployed. This book also does not cover Ruby in great detail, but it arms you with most of the information necessary to use Rails. I recommend a Ruby language reference manual/tutorial in addition to this book if you really want to expand your capabilities. However, I feel that after this book I can better utilize reference books and/or online documentation to experiment and build my own applications.

This book is highly recommended for those who have tried other books and stumbled. The only recommendation that I would make is to either (a) offer exercises so that the reader can experiment with the material in ways that that author sees applicable or (b) present the reader with an outline of what is going to be covered next so that the reader can attempt to implement it on their own followed by the explanation of how the author implemented it.

However, the last words that I will reiterate and hope will leave a lasting impression on potential buyers is a thank you to Patrick for getting me up and running on Rails. This book has sucessfully done that for me for the first time in a technical book in 10 years!

I'm a college instructor looking for a text to use in an Introduction to web development course. I've now worked through about a half-dozen beginners Rails books and this one is by far the best. The Shovell project is wonderful at demonstrating common design patterns found in web application. The coding structure is of the highest quality and the focus on testing really captures what good Rails development is all about.

Patrick Lenz, Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications (Sitepoint, 2007)

The main problem with a technology that's advancing as fast as Ruby on Rails is that by the time the books become affordable, they're out of date. It's that aspect of Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications that makes the rating I'm giving it so low; it would have another star were it still up to date, but there are things Lenz tells us how to do in Rails 1.2 that no longer work in later versions (for example, setting up a column in a migration using "t.column :name, :string" will now throw an error; as I write this, the current syntax would be "t.string :name", but by the time you read this, that will have probably changed again). There are also a small number of errors in proofreading (in the testing of the application he builds over the course of the book, he changes the name of one variable from :another to :second, then a few chapters later wants us to add values to :another) and one philosophical stance that's bound to drive some folks nuts (he advocates writing unit tests after writing code, which often leads to the programmer writing the tests to accommodate the code rather than the other way around). So much for the book's shortcomings.

Other than that, though, I thought this was really useful. Given that one of those problems is an annoyance at best and one of them is an opinion more than a problem, that leaves you with a book that, were it updated, would be pretty darned good still. Lenz takes you through the building and testing of a fully functional web application (a Digg clone). While he doesn't get into some of the more advanced features that Ruby on Rails makes easier for the programmer, I'm realizing, the more books on Rails I read, that none of them do, so I can't count points off for that. At the end of the book, after all, you do end up with a functional, if somewhat barebones, application, and you learn a decent amount along the way. A new edition covering Rails 2.3 would be most welcome, Unfortunately, by the time it was ready for press, Rails would probably be another three versions down the road, and so the circle continues. ** ½

First off, this book is really easy to follow and the subject matter varied enough throughout the book for it not to become a bore. (Although the sections on writing testing can be a bit of a drag, there's probably no way to get around that.)

That said, some of the techniques taught in this book are not up-to-date. They work, but they don't follow the current best practices, such as writing REST-ful apps. (I didn't even know what this was when I made the purchase, but found out about it just as the book arrived.) Also, this book is written for Rails 1.0, not Rails 2.0, so if you want to develop with Rails 2, there will be some hiccups along the way. Rails 2, doesn't really use .rjs files anymore (although they still work). Also the name of certain methods/objects have changed. For example instead of using votes_count, you should use votes.count.

When I purchased the book, Simply Rails 2 was on the verge of being released, unbeknown to me, I wish I had known about the updated edition and purchased it instead.

I've read both this book and Agile Web Development with Rails published by Pragmatic Programmers. Although this book has more errors, I found it to be easier to follow along with and the examples to be more practical. Agile Web Development uses an e-commerce catalog as the sample web app whereas this book uses a digg clone - more practical to developers today I think. Here are some other reasons why I prefer this book:
- Agile Web Development has you create the example web application first and then tells you how the Rails framework works. This book teaches you how the framework works while you're building the sample web app.
- Agile has a single chapter on testing whereas this book has you write tests as you go, which is what you would do when you actually develop an application.
- It has a chapter on debugging (although it has been updated). This is an important topic I think but is hardly covered in Agile Web Development.
- This book introduced me to two helpful programs - Mysql Query Browser and the Rails Console script and did so early in the book so that you can use them while you're developing the sample app. Once I learned about the Rails Console, I started using it all the time as it allows you to interact with your application from a command line and is a great tool for seeing how different objects interact with each other.

After reading several books on RoR, I found one with good information that I can use in the real world. I have found other books that provide a decent foundation to start developing in RoR, but this one was easier to follow, and went into a little more detail. I often go through a book and do the exercises in the book only to find by the end, I have just done a bunch of exercises that don't add up to much. This book has material I can apply straight away.

Everything from a good foundation in writing the Ruby code, to what controllers, views and actions are in Ruby. I really wanted to get to know how to apply RoR, but have had trouble using it (I actually host several sites through MediaTemple and they recently moved to a RoR server set up). I often had trouble getting my applications started, but this book helped me understand the real basics so I could move forward to intermediate and advanced techniques.

My only complaint is that there really isn't much beyond the basics, but, it is 'the beginner's guide to RoR' not the experts guide. The material is easy to read, but does have a few mistakes in the code that took some time to figure out, but over all, it is a great starting point for a rookie at RoR.

I started RoR recently. I tried other books. This one is the best I came across. It takes you by the hand through setting up your first app. There are still some minor errors in the presented code in the book (probably because it was the first print) but I definitely recommend it over the other books and web tutorials that I tried.