The Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial and Reference Collection

Book excerpt: "The Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial and Reference Collection" consists of two bestselling Rails eBooks: "Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example" by Michael Hartl"The Rails 3 Way" by Obie Fernandez In "Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial" leading Rails developer Michael Hartl teaches Rails 3 by guiding you through the development of your own complete sample application using the latest techniques in Rails Web development. Drawing on his experience building RailsSpace, Insoshi, and other sophisticated Rails applications, Hartl illuminates all facets of design and implementation-including powerful new techniques that simplify and accelerate development. Hartl explains how each new technique solves a real-world problem and demonstrates this with bite-sized code that's simple enough to understand, yet novel enough to be useful. "The Rails 3 Way" is the only comprehensive, authoritative guide to delivering production-quality code with Rails 3. Pioneering Rails expert Obie Fernandez and a team of leading experts illuminate the entire Rails 3 API, along with the idioms, design approaches, and libraries that make developing applications with Rails so powerful. You learn advanced Rails programming techniques that have been proven effective in day-to-day usage on dozens of production Rails systems. Dive deep into the Rails 3 codebase and discover why Rails is designed the way it is-and how to make it do what you want it to do. This collection helps youInstall and set up your Rails development environmentGo beyond generated code to truly understand how to build Rails applications from scratchLearn Test Driven Development (TDD) with RSpecEffectively use the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern Structure applications using the REST architectureBuild static pages and transform them into dynamic onesMaster the Ruby programming skills all Rails developers needDefine high-quality site layouts and data modelsImplement registration and authentication systems, including validation and secure passwordsUpdate, display, and delete users Add social features and microblogging, including an introduction to AjaxRecord version changes with Git and share code at GitHubSimplify application deployment with HerokuLearn what's new in Rails 3Increase your productivity as a Web application developerRealize the overall joy in programming with RailsLeverage Rails' powerful capabilities for building REST-compliant APIsDrive implementation and protect long-term maintainability using RSpecDesign and manipulate your domain layer using Active RecordUnderstand and program complex program flows using Action ControllerMaster sophisticated URL routing conceptsUse Ajax techniques via Rails 3 support for unobtrusive JavaScriptLearn to extend Rails with popular gems and plugins and how to write your own Extend Rails with the best third-party plug-ins and write your ownIntegrate email services into your applications with Action MailerImprove application responsiveness with background processingCreate your own non-Active Record domain classes using Active ModelMaster Rails' utility classes and extensions in Active Support