When I was trying to learn Rails, what differentiated Michael's book everything else I came across was his eagerness to not just show _what_ to do but also explain _why_ you're doing it. This is always my suggestion for anyone who is trying to get into Rails.
Ruby on Rails Tutorial
41–50 of 82 posts
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I actually know both Rails and React, and have built stuff with them separately. I understand they would talk to each other using JSON and don't need to be "aware" of each other. The main thing that I find confusing is the build/deployment process of a Rails application that uses React as the front-end. For example, let's say that I develop a Rails/React app and want to deploy it. Do I run webpack first to tran…
If you're going down the road of a React based SPA on top of a Rails API (and I'd question hard if you'll really benefit from that) do yourself a favour and just treat them as entirely separate applications. The backend deploys as you'll be used to with Rails, and the front-end can be built locally and then pushed to anywhere that'll serve some static HTML.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks, that makes sense.
>>If you're going down the road of a React based SPA on top of a Rails API (and I'd question hard if you'll really benefit from that)
Why would you question it? At least my understanding is that there would be a noticeable performance benefit, since building HTML views on the server can contribute 150-300 ms to the overall responsiveness (or so I've read). I feel like React views would be a lot snappier.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#43I recently joined a company that's built on Rails. I previously was most comfortable with Python/Django. There's lots of code to crib from, and I've picked up the basics pretty quickly. That said, I've been looking for Rails tutorials/resources that are geared toward someone with decent experience with other languages/frameworks. Would y'all recommend this book, or is this more of "learn to code with Ruby on Rails"?…
I would also recommend the documentation. However, if you're really looking for a good book, Agile Web Development With Rails is great. I would hold off on getting it until the new one comes out, which will include all the new features of Rails 5. You shouldn't have a difficult time with it since you do have prior experience with different technologies.
Another resource would be GoRails. Some of the videos require a membership though.
All the best!
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're going down the road of a React based SPA on top of a Rails API (and I'd question hard if you'll really benefit from that) do yourself a favour and just treat them as entirely separate applications. The backend deploys as you'll be used to with Rails, and the front-end can be built locally and then pushed to anywhere that'll serve some static HTML.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks, that makes sense. >>If you're going down the road of a React based SPA on top of a Rails API (and I'd question hard if you'll really benefit from that) Why would you question it? At least my understanding is that there would be a noticeable performance benefit, since building HTML views on the server can contribute 150-300 ms to the overall responsiveness (or so I've read). I feel like React views…
Meh.
Mostly JS frontends are just for annoying grumpy oldtimers like us here at HN.
Seriously: unless you have a serious good reason for depending on JS in the frontend then keep it to progressive enhancements: autocomplete etc.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#45I'll always be upset that my college web development class got changed from following this tutorial to early 2000s PHP without a database.
You know, I'll probably be bammed for saying this, but reading through this very well-made tutorial gave me the opposite reaction. I am glad I learned and still use PHP and not RoR. IMHO, there are way too many black-boxes and unnecessary abstractions for such a simple pattern as MVC, which is really nothing more then connecting HTML views to database fields view URI routes. I recently struggled through my first Ioni…
What do you mean by "magical array handling"? It is the most obscure construct I have ever seen.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#46this is an classic for rails. countless entrepreneur/developers i know have used this as their first 0 to production guide for their first real (shipped, launched, live etc) software projects. I say it's an excellent intro to someone with maybe some academic programming experience to get into web app development. it gives you the kick starter development plan you need to make a Twitter, db, grub hub, air bnb type sta…
It's also amazing for non-programmer tech people like designers and marketers who want to start building their own side projects.
Hopefully they know Ruby first.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#47Glad everyone is recommending this but I also hope they recommend learning Ruby first before Rails.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#48I recently joined a company that's built on Rails. I previously was most comfortable with Python/Django. There's lots of code to crib from, and I've picked up the basics pretty quickly. That said, I've been looking for Rails tutorials/resources that are geared toward someone with decent experience with other languages/frameworks. Would y'all recommend this book, or is this more of "learn to code with Ruby on Rails"?…
Just a quick personal anecdote for a different perspective:
When I wanted to learn Rails as a developer getting into web dev, I read the Rails Tutorial relatively quickly and did the major exercises. I thought it was well worth the time and would have bought a print copy to reference/scribble in if it had been released in a timely manner.
After that I got the Rails 4 Way, which I still refer to from time to time. It makes a pretty good reference or topical reader once you're more familiar with rails. It is more a book on how things are put together and why, as compared to 'this is how to do X step by step.' I imagine there will be a new edition for rails 5 soon. This would probably be my first recommendation for you coming from Django.
I didn't find the official documentation to be all that helpful until after I had finished that reading and understood the rails system a little better. Now I use the documentation a lot more. The rails source I occasionally refer to, but it is rather painful to read if you're not deeply entrenched in the ruby/rails metaprogramming idioms.
I also have a copy of Agile Web Development with Rails 4, and I never open it anymore. I tried to get through it, but I find it a rather poor book. It is very light on details, or just content in general. Personally don't think it's worth the time or money.
Obviously I like reference books, I find writing in margins and physically flipping pages helps me learn. YMMV!
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#49Glad everyone is recommending this but I also hope they recommend learning Ruby first before Rails.
Since you've posted a few comments with this same sentiment a few times in this thread; can you expand on why you feel people would need to learn Ruby before getting started with Rails?
Also if you'd have taken a few seconds to open the link to the book and skim through the opening paragraphs you might have read this sentence:
> There are no formal prerequisites to this book, and the Ruby on Rails Tutorial contains integrated tutorials not only for Rails, but also for the underlying Ruby language, the default Rails testing framework (minitest), the Unix command line, HTML, CSS, a small amount of JavaScript, and even a little SQL.
Re: Ruby on Rails Tutorial
#50I defy anyone to point me to a more complete treatment of a modern development environment. Hartl's work is ridiculously good. Almost wish I were still using RoR...