by
3.93 of 5 stars
Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications, but with a twist..... read full description

reviews

Nov 25, 2011
Jevgeni rated it: 3 of 5 stars
It was one of the books with I read using rapid reading techniques. It means, that my review is going to be biased.

I liked the book - the first part was a hands-on tutorial on building a rails application from stratch. I believe it covered all the most popular issues we have when building web applications. The book includes information on how to do automated testing, like functional and unit testing. However, it expects to enter all commands to the rails console and does not always More...
Sep 01, 2011
Thomas rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Suggested by my friend Kory. I read the beta version of this book. Again, in some ways I prefer books with a few errors, keeps me on my toes. I've got a few ideas on what I'm going to build with this new tool, I'll post back here when I do (although now I kind of want to play with jquery since I really know nothing about that library and it could prove useful in rails, or well any type of web apps). It's quite verbose, but I guess for people who want their hand held a bit (I'll admit, hand-holdi More...
Jul 25, 2007
Sam rated it: 5 of 5 stars
If you are interested in getting started with Rails, this is the way to go. I'd recommend you read the first few chapters of Thomas' "Programming Ruby" first, to get a foundation in ruby first.
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Sep 09, 2011
Shaun rated it: 4 of 5 stars
After introducing myself to Ruby, I read this book to become more familiar with the Rails framework. I was very pleased with how this book was laid out. The first section has you dig right into creating a basic storefront by guiding you through the basics of using the Rails framework. This first section teaches you everything you need to create a basic site of your own. The latter sections of the book go into depth regarding each concept you learned in the initial sections as well as other advan More...
Feb 03, 2010
Tom rated it: 4 of 5 stars
In general, this book does a fairly good job of helping you create a rails-based application. Part 3 includes some great in-depth information on the topics that are briefly discussed in Part 2.

I only have one real gripe about this book. It packs in lots of topics (e.g. db theory, AJAX, unit testing, security, deployment), but it doesn't really tell you much about them. Therefore, if you have a problem, then good luck figuring it out using the content in the book.

A More...
Jan 22, 2008
Brent rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I read the first 100 pages last night. I'm really starting to like this rails stuff. This is really helping me get a handle on Rails. Good stuff.
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jun 10, 2010
Mark rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I met Dave Thomas at a Ruby on Rails class. He really knows his stuff and I refer to his book at work.
1 comment like (1 person liked it)
Mar 03, 2011
Krom rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This was the best book I found for Rails web development. If I had to choose between "Simply Rails" and this book, I would choose this book. The reason being that Simply Rails is a very gentle walk through of an example website, and that's about it. This book has that as the first section, and then continues on with more technical discussions of the major moving parts in the rails framework, and thus serves as both a primer and a reference.

The 4th edition is due to arriv More...
Jun 03, 2011
Michael rated it: 3 of 5 stars
[Review of Second Edition]

Dave thomas is a pretty good writer, I thought that The Pragmatic Programmer was an excellent book. However, alot of the garbage suggested in AWD makes me doubt how much experience the author has writing scalable, agile, high traffic web-applications.

If you go into this book looking to learn how to code with rails, thats fine, but don't expect to learn to program well for the web from this book. Infact, be prepared to ignore large portions of More...
Oct 04, 2009
Darryl rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Decent book to learn rails. I'm a total noob when it comes to web apps, yet this book was good enough to get me through my first site. The approach they take is to write a full website first, then go back and fill in the details. I think this was a good approach as long as you're willing to do the whole example site along with the book. However, it made it hard to use the book as a reference once you run off on your own. Many times I knew I had seen a topic in the book and couldn't find it More...
Aug 08, 2010
Nathan rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Read this if you want to get started learning Rails and already have some programming experience. It doesn't go too far into explaining how Ruby works, so if you are not comfortable diving in all at once, be sure to learn the basics of Ruby before you pick up this book.
Dec 29, 2008
Trey rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This was the first book I read when learning Ruby on Rails. I highly recommend it as the text is easy to follow, concepts are presented well, and the examples are fun and interesting. I still keep it by my computer when I work on projects to use as a reference guide.
Aug 04, 2009
Emil rated it: 5 of 5 stars
A great introduction to Ruby on Rails. It has a practical approach as it gets you through building a simple web store application.
Good to know some Ruby before jumping into Rails. However, this book does include a 10 or so page crash course on Ruby.
Oct 17, 2011
Tom rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Kind of slow moving and not a great book to use as a reference once you've ploughed through the examples.
Gets out of date quickly so make sure you get the most recent edition.
Aug 25, 2011
John rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This was my go-to reference for months, as I was learning Ruby on Rails.

It's probably not as useful now for Rails 3. Hopefully they'll come out with a new edition soon.
Jan 18, 2009
Alex rated it: 5 of 5 stars
one of the books that teach about relevant things that will make me rich.

Rails is awesome. It empowers you. Being an entrepreneur has never been easier.
Jul 13, 2010
John rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I have only read seven chapters or so of this book, but I really like what I have read so far. This book isn't just about how to write applications in Rails, it is about the process of writing software.
Jan 22, 2012
Arielle rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I would recommend working on your Ruby skills by solving problems/algorithm first before jumping into Rails.
May 08, 2010
Duk rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent Rails book for beginners like me. I am a sucker for books that are written by original creators. Highly recommended.
Apr 17, 2010
Joe added it
Agile Web Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide (Pragmatic Programmers) by Dave Thomas (2005)
Mar 25, 2010
Solostyle rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Comprehensive, including information about HTTP methods for use in RESTful apps.
Jan 09, 2010
Sunny added it
Agile Web Development With Rails: A Pragmatic Guide by Dave Thomas (2005)
Jan 13, 2009
Davidkeithhanson is currently reading it
It's pretty good though I'm only a couple of chapters in.
Nov 22, 2011
Luiz rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to Rails with Agile Development.
Jun 03, 2011
Prabhjit is currently reading it
I am developing my ROR skills and this book is seems to me Ok for beginners.
Jul 22, 2011
Aditya rated it: 4 of 5 stars
nice book for beginner
Mar 12, 2010
Kenrome added it
good
Mar 20, 2008
Michelle rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Look, I read almost all of this. Probably about 2/3 of it, but I haven't had a big Rails project in awhile, so I'm going to transition this to "read".

It's a really great book. Very readable and their sample app used to bring you up to speed in a very typical Rails fashion (fast) is a true-to-life Rails app - useful. The book itself is the Rails bible and an indispensable reference.
Sep 04, 2011
Bruno rated it: 5 of 5 stars
The best programming book I have ever read. The soft introduction to a new language, paired with an easy-to-follow narrative; which takes you through the building of a real production application while learning the Rails framework, makes this book amazingly enjoyable besides from interesting.
Jun 03, 2011
Michael rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Essential reading for the aspiring Rails developer. These guys helped popularize Ruby and Rails with their early books on the subjects and the latest editions cover the new versions of each very well. Old Rails hands will not find much reason to be excited about this one.