This book not only teaches the necessary skill set to become a proficient Ruby on Rails developer, it also explains the theory needed for the developer to explore and learn on their own. The text teaches Ruby on Rails by creating real world projects.

This book not only teaches the necessary skill set to become a proficient Ruby on Rails developer, it also explains the theory needed for the developer to explore and learn on their own. The reader will not be burdened by yet another set of "hello world" and other mundane examples. In this text they will learn Ruby on Rails by creating real world projects; a task manager, RSS aggregator, a community manager similar to MySpace.com, and an Amazon based store. While the book covers the basics for beginners, it also offers more advanced tools, including Ajax and a detailed discussion of ActiveRecord and ActionPack.

1. Introducing the Rails Framework
2. Getting Started
3. Getting Something Running
4. Working with a Database: Active Record
5. Advanced Active Record: Enhancing Your Models
6. Action Pack:Working with the View and the Controller
7. Improving Interaction with Ajax
8. Sending and Receiving Mail
9. Testing Your Application
10. Extending Rails with Plugins
11. Deploying Your Rails Applications

Beginning Rails is the practical starting point for anyone wanting to learn how to build dynamic web applications using the Rails framework for Ruby. You’ll learn how all of the components of Rails fit together and how you can leverage them to create sophisticated web applications with less code and more joy.

This book is particularly well suited to those with little or no experience with web application development, or who have some experience but are new to Rails. Beginning Rails assumes basic familiarity with web terms and technologies, but doesn't require you to be an expert.

Topics include:

• A gentle introduction to the Ruby programming language
• Installing Ruby and Rails on a Mac, Linux, or Windows system
• The philosophy behind Rails and why it matters
• The Model-View-Controller architecture
• The basics of relational databases and SQL
• Setting up a MySQL database and creating a schema with migrations
• Experimenting with your live application in the Rails console
• Creating rich relationships between your models
• Using controllers and templates properly
• Leveraging helpers to keep your templates clean and logic free
• Adding Ajax and visual effects to enrich your user interfaces
• JavaScript with Prototype and script.aculo.us
• How to send and receive mail from your application
• Using and creating your own plug-ins
• Ensuring your code against Murphy’s Law through writing tests
• Using Capistrano to deploy your application

Rather than delving into the arcane details of Rails, the focus is on the aspects of the framework that will become your pick, shovel, and axe. Part history lesson, part introduction to object-oriented programming, and part dissertation on open source software, Beginning Rails doesn’t just explain how to do something in Rails, it explains why.

Every programmer fondly remembers the book that helped them get started. The goal of Beginning Rails is to become that book for you, today.