We use Ruby on Rails in the development of Tractis, a web service that allows you to negotiate, manage and sign contracts online. The following list includes very useful resources to learn RoR. Check them out!!

(Pssst, you can also see what we’re reading now…)

Resources in English

Introduction

Ruby is an object-oriented, meta-programming language that has many developers wondering if there are actually better alternatives to languages like Java and C#. Rails is a Ruby framework enjoying tremendous success.

First of all: Why should you consider a weird language like Ruby on Rails? Read Beating the averages & The Python Paradox by Paul Graham.

If your are just getting started, we recommend the book “Agile Web Development with Rails” by Chad Fowler.

• Ruby on Rails Official Site (Wiki|Podcast)
• What Is Ruby on Rails – C. Hibbs – 2005.13.10 – O’Reilly ONLamp
• What’s all the fuss about Ruby On Rails? – 2005.07.09 – Joel On Software.
• Ruby on Rails: Making Programmers Happy – 2005.11.01 – eWeek: An interview with David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of the Ruby on Rails Web application framework.
• James Duncan Davidson on Rails.
• Crossing borders: What’s the secret sauce in Ruby on Rails? – B. Tate – 2006.05.09 – IBM Developer Networks.
• Learning Ruby – 2006.09.07: Learn Ruby with Satish Talim.

Tutorials

• Top 12 Ruby on Rails Tutorials – 2006.05.11 – Digital Media Minute.
• Ajax on Rails – C. Hibbs – 2005.09.06 – O’Reilly ONLamp: XMLHttpRequest and Ruby on Rails are two hot topics in web development. As you ought to expect by now, they work really well together. Curt Hibbs explains the minimal Ajax you need to know and the minimal Ruby you need to write to Ajax-ify your Rails applications.
• Fast-Track!
• Four Days on Rails is designed to fill that gap. It’s about 40 pages formatted for double-sided printing on A4 describing the key issues that you need to know to get up and running in Rails development. By the time you’ve read it, you should have a useful toolbox of Rails techniques and a good idea of where to look on the web for more information. See pdf (english|spanish)
• Using Ruby on Rails for Web Development on OS X – Apple Developer Connection.

Rolling with Ruby on Rails Tutorials:

• Part I- C. Hibbs – 2005.01.20 – O’Reilly ONLamp: The Ruby community is abuzz about Rails, a web application framework that makes database-backed apps dead simple. What’s the fuss? Is it worth the hype? Curt Hibbs shows off Rails, building a simple application that even non-Rubyists can follow.
• Part II – C. Hibbs – 2005.03.03 – O’Reilly ONLamp: Curt Hibbs introduced Ruby on Rails by building a simple but functional web application in just a few minutes. Does the ease of use continue? He thinks so. In the second of two parts, Curt completes his example Rails application in merely 47 lines of code.
• Amy’s Part III

Setting Up RoR

• Building Ruby, Rails, LightTPD, and MySQL on Tiger provides step-by-step installation instructions.
• Deploying Rails with LightTPD is a handy recipe for setting up production systems using LightTPD and SwitchTower.
• Setting up Rails on Windows – 2007.10.23 – LoudThinking
• Ruby on Rails on Debian – Debian Administration
• RubyInstaller: This is a “one-click”, self-contained Windows installer that contains the Ruby language itself, dozens of popular extensions and packages, a syntax-highlighting editor and execution environment, and a Windows help file that contains the full text of the book, Programming Ruby – The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide.
• Instant Rails: Instant Rails is a one-stop Rails runtime solution containing Ruby, Rails, Apache, and MySQL, all pre-configured and ready to run. No installer, you simply drop it into the directory of your choice and run it. It does not modify your system environment.
• Locomotive: similar to Instant Rails (see above), but for Mac OSX.

RoR API

• Ruby on Rails API: Use RailsHelp to search the API documentation.
• Ruby on Rails API Documentation: Searchable, user annotatable API documentation

RoR Web Services

• REST on Rails: An elegant approach to Web services by Bruce Tate.
• REST on Rails – 2005.11.02 – M. Biddulph – XML.com

RoR Performance

• The computer language shootout benchmarks: Ruby is one of the last/worst performing computer languages.
• Ruby Performance Revisited – 2006.09.12 . J. Sposky: CPU cycles vs Development cycles.
• YARV: Yet Another Ruby VM – Sasada Koichi: “The goal of this project is only one, to develop the fastest Virtual Machine for Ruby in the world“.

RoR and databases

• Oracle+Ruby/Ruby on Rails ^NEW

RoR IDEs

• RadRails

RoR Blogs

• Ruby on Rails Official Site – Blog
• RubyCorner: Ruby’s Blog directory
• Ruby Inside: Daily Ruby Tips, News, Code and frivolity
• The Unofficial Ruby on Rails Blog
• Nuby on Rails: Geoffrey Grosenbach’s blog
• RubyNoob: This blog tracks Terry (TAD) Donaghe’s experiences in learning the language and the framework

RoR Forums

• Rails Forum
• Ruby on Rails Forum
• Ruby on Rails – Programmer Assist: Got a Ruby on Rails Question?
• Rails Weenie ^NEW
• Nable forums: Ruby on Rails ^NEW
• Textdrive forums: Ruby on Rails ^NEW
• Ruby Forum ^NEW

RoR Mailing lists

• Ruby on Rails Official Site – Mailing list: Sign up directly.

RoR Plugins

• List of RoR Plugins
• Another list of RoR Plugins

RoR Mistakes

• Things You Shouldn’t Be Doing In Rails – 2006.08.30 – K. Clark – Gluttonous

RoR Alternatives

• Javascript: TrimJunction
• PHP: PHP on Trax, Akelos & CakePHP
• Python: TurboGears & Django

Just Ruby (without Rails)

• Ruby-Lang.org: The official home page for the Ruby language.
• Why’s (poignant) guide to Ruby
• Try Ruby: A tutorial to try Ruby through your web browser.
• Ruby article: This article covers the following topics: Introduction to Ruby, Running Ruby, Instance Variables and Attributes, Building Applications with Interactive Ruby, Variables, Assignment, Method Arguments, Modules and Mixins vs. Multiple Inheritance and a Little Ruby Program.
• Learning to Program – C. Pine: A very basic, ground-level tutorial for the beginner to Ruby.
• Programming Ruby – T. Hunt & A. Hunt (The Pickaxe): The original tome and complete reference for Ruby. B
• A Little Ruby, A Lot of Objects – B. Marick: Lovely little in-progress work to teach Ruby purely with simple code examples.
• Ruby User’s Guide: A guide to learning Ruby (with code examples). By Matz, the creator of Ruby. Translated into English.ç
• RubyCentral
• Ruby Garden
• 10 Things a Java Programmer should know about Ruby
• Ruby Book List: A current list of printed material covering Ruby.
• Ruby Code and Style
• Ruby Cookbook – R. Davis – Zen Spider
• Ruby Programming WikiBooks

RoR Books

Published:

• Agile Web Development with Rails (Code) – 1ed – August 2005 – D. Heinemeier et. al – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Programming Ruby (Book|Code)- 2 ed – D. Thomas et. al – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Enterprise Integration with Ruby (Code) – 1ed – March 2006 – M. Schmidt et. al – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Best of Ruby Quiz (Code) – 1 ed – April 2006 – J. Gray – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Ruby for Rails : Ruby Techniques for Rails Developers – 1ed May 2006 – D. Black – Manning Publications.
• Rails Recipes (Code)- 1 ed – June 2006 – C. Fowler – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• From Java To Ruby: Things Every Manager Should Know (Code) – 1ed – June 2006 – B. Tate – The Pragmatic Programmers
• Ruby Cookbook – 1ed – July 2006 – L. Carlson – O’Reilly
• Ruby on Rails: Up and Running – August 2006 – 1ed – B. Tate – O’Reilly
• Payment Processing with Paypal and Ruby (Code) – J. Fair

Comming Soon:

• Agile Web Development with Rails (Code) – 2ed – September 2006 – D. Heinemeier et. al – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Scripting for Testers: Using Ruby (Code) – 1ed – October 2006 – B. Marick – The Pragmatic Programmers.
• Rails Deployment_Production Configuration and Advanced Rails Tactics – 1ed – November 2006 – E. Zygmuntowicz – The Pragmatic Programmers
• Rails for Java Programmers – 1ed – November 2006 – S. Halloway – The Pragmatic Programmers
• More Rails Recipes_72 Ways to Build Stunning Rails Apps – 1ed – December 2006 – M. Clark – The Pragmatic Programmers

RoR CheatSheets

Ruby: ^NEW

• Ruby QuickRef – R. Davis – ZenSpider
• Ruby CheatSheet v.1 (pdf)- Cenophobie.com
• Command line Ruby CheatSheet – errtheblog.com

Ruby on Rails: ^NEW

• Ruby on Rails CheatSheet – 2006.01.11 – D. Child – ILoveJackDaniels: Excellent CheatSheet.
• Ruby on Rails Reference (pdf)- 2006.05.01 – InVisible Blog : 20 RoR reference pages.
• Ruby on Rails CheatSheet – blainekendall.com
• Ruby on Rails CheatSheet Collectors Edition (pdf)- rubyonrailsblog.com
• Form Helpers CheatSheet – A. Hoy – Slash7
• ActiveRecord CheatSheet – A. Hoy – Slash7
• Directories CheatSheet – A. Hoy – Slash7
• Rails REST CheatSheet – 2006.10.09 – NubyOnRails
• Rails Environments Configuration – 2006.05.22 – glu.ttono.us
• Rails Testing CheatSheet: assertions in Test::Unit & Test::Rails (part of the ZenTest gem).
• Rails Migrations CheatSheet – 2006. – G. Snider: Valid as of Rails 1.1.2
• Capistrano CheatSheet – 2006.09.30 – J. Buck
• Capistrano CheatSheet – 2006.09.20 – D. Pettifer
• TextMate CheatSheet for Rails Hackers (pdf) – 2006.05.03 – M. Clark

Miscellanea

• Ruby off the Rails – 2005.12.20 – A. Glover: A comparison between Java and Ruby (without Rails). Get to know Ruby before you hop on (or off) the Rails bandwagon
• XAMPL: xampl is powerful yet easy to use code generator with XML binding support, transparent persistence, and other programmer conveniences. It is aimed an satisfying the requirement of the ‘M’ in MVC.
• Rail Engines: Rails Engines are a way of dropping in whole chunks of functionality into your existing application without affecting any of your existing code. They could also be described as mini-applications, or vertical application slices – top-to-bottom units which provide full MVC coverage for a certain, specific application function.
• mod_ruby: embeds the Ruby interpreter into the Apache web server, allowing Ruby CGI scripts to be executed natively. These scripts will start up much faster than without mod_ruby. See also comment on mod_ruby on Ruby on Rails official site.
• Integrating PayPal payments with Ruby on Rails – 2006.10.05
• 19 Rails Tricks Most Rails Coders Don’t Know – 2006.08.08 – P. Cooper – Ruby Inside
• Top 20 Ruby on Rails Content Management System CMS Tools
• Top 10 Ruby on Rails Jobs Websites
• CSS Graphs Helper for Ruby on Rails: A Ruby on Rails helper for making simple graphs. The graphs use only CSS/HTML (and an optional gradient image). Inspired by Apple to Oranges: CSS for Bar Graphs
• Skinny Controller, Fat Model – J. Buck – 2006.10.18: When first getting started with Rails, it is tempting to shove lots of logic in the view. Don’t be fooled: move as much of the logic as possible into the controller.

Recursos en Castellano

Introducción

• Ruby on Rails – Sitio oficial en Castellano.
• SobreRaíles: Novedades acerca de Ruby on Rails y traducciones de artículos en inglés.
• Introducción a Ruby y a Ruby on Rails – F. Blat et al. – The Cocktail.
• Ruby On Rails: Conceptos básicos – F. Blat et al. – The Cocktail.
• Introducción a Ruby on Rails – R. Davila – Asociación Nacional de Webmasters Perú ^NEW
• Planeta Rails
• La cara oscura del desarrrollo del Software: Ruby | Rails
• Ruby: Un tour Fotográfico
• MeneaRailes: Un menéame para Rails

Tutoriales de RoR

• Tutor de Ruby on Rails: Curso de RoR.
• En marcha con Rails: Tutorial, 2 partes.

Blogs de RoR

• BlogOnRails: Apuntes de RubyOnRails, AJAX, Javascript y Diseño.
• Blog – Railes.net
• Rubylandia
• On Rails: Empezando desde cero, ¿Te subes?.
• Argentina On Rails
• Rubí sobre Rieles: Desde Uruguay
• Railes y Traviesas
  
• SobreRailes
  
• El FeRoRcarril

Foros de RoR

• Railes.net
• Rubies: Comunidad hispana de usuarios de Ruby.
• Foro Ruby on Rails
• Ruby forum: Rails-ES ^NEW
• Perú on Rails ^NEW

Listas de correo RoR

• Lista de correo Ruby on Rails en castellano. Es una lista muy amigable y con un nivel de tráfico mucho más asequible que la lista en inglés.

Libros RoR

• Programando en Ruby: versión en español de “Programming Ruby” de Pragmatic Programmers ^NEW

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By David Blanco
Saved in: | No comments » | 18 October 2006