Want to learn all about Ruby on Rails 2.0, the web application framework that is inspiring developers around the world?

The 2nd edition of this practical hands-on guide for first-time Ruby on Rails programmers will walk you through installing the required software on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. And before you get coding, an entire chapter is devoted to object oriented programming in Ruby, so you'll be completely confident with the Ruby language before you begin working with Rails.

The example application that the book builds - a user-generated news web site - is built upon with each following chapter, and concepts such as sessions, cookies and basic AJAX usage are gradually introduced. Different aspects of Rails, such as user authentication, session cookies, and automated testing are explored with each feature that is added to the application.

The book finishes with chapters on debugging, benchmarking and deployment to a live web server.

By the end of the book, you'll have built a fully-featured Web 2.0 application and deployed it to the Web. And all code is up-to-date for Rails 2.0, so you can begin coding immediately with the latest version of Rails.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 26 Ratings

Good Starting Point - 2009-07-27
Reviewer Rating:
This is my 3rd book on Ruby/Rails. It will get you up and running quickly. It is not like a "Ruby/Rails Bible" though. References are difficult to find when you are against a time line.

As with so much information on Ruby/Rails, this book lacks depth of issues that occur in real world web programming.

It is by far the best start up book I have found.

A Must For Complete Beginners - 2009-09-25
Reviewer Rating:
I came to rails knowing very little about ruby and even less about rails. This book got me started on the right foot. At the end I was able to understand how rails works, although I wasn't able to write any real programs on my own. This book assumes that you know nothing about Ruby or Rails. It's written in a clear, concise and entertaining style, and gave me a good idea how the whole rails framework functions. Agile Web Development with Rails, Third Edition is one of the more popular guides that I'm reading now. It's also a good beginner's book but it might be too difficult for complete newbies. I think I'd have much more difficulty understanding it if I hadn't read Simply Rails.

Good Book For Beginners - 2009-07-08
Reviewer Rating:
This book doesn't cover the basics of Rails completely.But it is good for beginners who don't have any experience in website development. Provides a step-by-step guide for building a sample website. It describes the testing framework very well. I suggest Foundation Rails 2.0 for better understanding of MVC framework.

Helps you understand concepts and get the big picture - 2009-04-22
Reviewer Rating:
I started out buying Agile web Dev with Rails http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Web-Development-Rails-Third/dp/1934356166/ and wasn't learning much.

This book helps you get the big picture. He explains in detail how to do things, then shows you how its done. He wants you to see the big picture before you do anything. He even shows you errors you may get and how to fix them. There's an awesome intro to Ruby and to the Unix Terminal that was very helpful. I understood everything before I built it (as opposed to building it and briefly explaining what's going on).

Good, informative, easy to follow - 2009-08-07
Reviewer Rating:
This book is very good if you're trying to learn about rails, like i am