Agile Web Development with Rails : A Pragmatic Guide

by Thomas, David; Hansson, David Heinemeier; Breedt, Leon

• ISBN13: 9780976694007
• ISBN10: 097669400X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-22
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications, but with a twist... A full Rails application probably has less total code than the XML you'd need to configure the same application in other frameworks. With this book you'll learn how to use ActiveRecordto connect business objects and database tables. No more painful object-relational mapping. Just create your business objects and let Rails do the rest. You'll learn how to use the Action Packframework to route incoming requests and render pages using easy-to-write templates and components. See how to exploit the Rails service frameworks to send emails, implement web services, and create dynamic, user-centric web-pages using built-in Javascript and Ajax support. There are extensive chapters on testing, deployment, and scaling. You'll see how easy it is to install Rails using your web server of choice (such as Apache or lighttpd) or using its own included web server. You'll be writing applications that work with your favorite database (MySQL, Oracle, Postgres, and more) in no time at all. You'll create a complete online store application in the extended tutorial section, so you'll see how a full Rails application is developed---iteratively and rapidly. Rails strives to honor the Pragmatic Programmer's "DRY Principle" by avoiding the extra work of configuration files and code annotations. You can develop in real-time: make a change, and watch it work immediately. Forget XML. Everything in Rails, from templates to control flow to business logic, is written in Ruby, the language of choice for programmers who like to get the job done well (and leave work on time for a change). Rails is the framework of choice for the new generation of Web 2.0 developers. Agile Web Development with Railsis the book for that generation, written by Dave Thomas (Pragmatic Programmer and author of Programming Ruby) and David Heinemeier Hansson, who created Rails.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(8)
Rails Is Agile	3	(1)
Finding Your Way Around	4	(2)
Acknowledgments	6	(3)
Part I---Getting Started	9	(36)
The Architecture of Rails Applications	11	(10)
Models, Views, and Controllers	11	(4)
Active Record: Rails Model Support	15	(4)
Action Pack: The View and Controller	19	(2)
Installing Rails	21	(6)
Installing on Windows	21	(1)
Installing on Mac OS X	22	(1)
Installing on Unix/Linux	22	(1)
Rails and Databases	23	(3)
Keeping Up-to-Date	26	(1)
Rails and ISPs	26	(1)
Instant Gratification	27	(18)
Creating a New Application	27	(2)
Hello, Rails!	29	(10)
Linking Pages Together	39	(4)
What We Just Did	43	(2)
Part II---Building an Application	45	(134)
The Depot Application	47	(6)
Incremental Development	47	(1)
What Depot Does	48	(4)
Let's Code	52	(1)
Task A: Product Maintenance	53	(18)
Iteration A1: Get Something Running	53	(8)
Iteration A2: Add a Missing Column	61	(3)
Iteration A3: Validate!	64	(3)
Iteration A4: Prettier Listings	67	(4)
Task B: Catalog Display	71	(8)
Iteration B1: Create the Catalog Listing	71	(3)
Iteration B2: Add Page Decorations	74	(5)
Task C: Cart Creation	79	(22)
Sessions	79	(2)
More Tables, More Models	81	(2)
Iteration C1: Creating a Cart	83	(8)
Iteration C2: Handling Errors	91	(4)
Iteration C3: Finishing the Cart	95	(6)
Task D: Checkout!	101	(14)
Iteration D1: Capturing an Order	102	(8)
Iteration D2: Show Cart Contents on Checkout	110	(5)
Task E: Shipping	115	(10)
Iteration E1: Basic Shipping	115	(10)
Task F: Administrivia	125	(14)
Iteration F1: Adding Users	125	(5)
Iteration F2: Logging In	130	(2)
Iteration F3: Limiting Access	132	(4)
Finishing Up	136	(1)
More Icing on the Cake	137	(2)
Task T: Testing	139	(40)
Tests Baked Right In	139	(1)
Testing Models	140	(15)
Testing Controllers	155	(13)
Using Mock Objects	168	(1)
Test-Driven Development	169	(3)
Running Tests with Rake	172	(3)
Performance Testing	175	(4)
Part III---The Rails Framework	179	(300)
Rails in Depth	181	(18)
So Where's Rails?	181	(1)
Directory Structure	181	(4)
Rails Configuration	185	(3)
Naming Conventions	188	(4)
Active Support	192	(2)
Logging in Rails	194	(1)
Debugging Hints	194	(2)
What's Next	196	(3)
Active Record Basics	199	(54)
Tables and Classes	200	(1)
Columns and Attributes	201	(5)
Primary Keys and IDs	206	(2)
Connecting to the Database	208	(2)
CRUD---Create, Read, Update, Delete	210	(15)
Relationships between Tables	225	(21)
Transactions	246	(7)
More Active Record	253	(36)
Act As	253	(4)
Aggregation	257	(6)
Single Table Inheritance	263	(3)
Validation	266	(8)
Callbacks	274	(8)
Advanced Attributes	282	(3)
Miscellany	285	(4)
Action Controller and Rails	289	(50)
Context and Dependencies	289	(1)
The Basics	290	(1)
Routing Requests	291	(11)
Action Methods	302	(10)
Cookies and Sessions	312	(10)
Flash---Communicating between Actions	322	(2)
Filters and Verification	324	(5)
Caching, Part One	329	(6)
The Problem with GET Requests	335	(4)
Action View	339	(46)
Templates	339	(2)
Builder templates	341	(1)
RHTML Templates	342	(2)
Helpers	344	(3)
Formatting Helpers	347	(2)
Linking to Other Pages and Resources	349	(3)
Pagination	352	(1)
Form Helpers	353	(15)
Layouts and Components	368	(10)
Caching, Part Two	378	(4)
Adding New Templating Systems	382	(3)
The Web, V2.0	385	(26)
Introducing AJAX	385	(3)
The Rails Way	388	(8)
The User Interface, Revisited	396	(5)
Advanced Techniques	401	(10)
Action Mailer	411	(12)
Sending E-mail	411	(7)
Receiving E-mail	418	(2)
Testing E-mail	420	(3)
Web Services on Rails	423	(16)
What AWS Is (and What It Isn't)	423	(1)
The API Definition	424	(5)
Dispatching Modes	429	(3)
Using Alternate Dispatching	432	(1)
Method Invocation Interception	433	(2)
Testing Web Services	435	(2)
Protocol Clients	437	(2)
Securing Your Rails Application	439	(14)
SQL Injection	439	(3)
Cross-Site Scripting (CSS/XSS)	442	(3)
Avoid Session Fixation Attacks	445	(1)
Creating Records Directly from Form Parameters	446	(1)
Don't Trust ID Parameters	447	(1)
Don't Expose Controller Methods	448	(2)
File Uploads	450	(1)
Don't Cache Authenticated Pages	450	(1)
Knowing That It Works	451	(2)
Deployment and Scaling	453	(26)
Picking a Production Platform	453	(8)
A Trinity of Environments	461	(2)
Iterating in the Wild	463	(4)
Maintenance	467	(2)
Scaling: The Share-Nothing Architecture	469	(3)
Finding and Dealing with Bottlenecks	472	(4)
Case Studies: Rails Running Daily	476	(3)
Part IV---Appendices	479	(2)
A Introduction to Ruby	481	(16)
Ruby Is an Object-Oriented Language	481	(1)
Ruby Names	482	(1)
Methods	483	(2)
Classes	485	(2)
Modules	487	(1)
Arrays and Hashes	488	(1)
Control Structures	489	(1)
Regular Expressions	490	(1)
Blocks and Iterators	490	(1)
Exceptions	491	(1)
Marshaling Objects	492	(1)
Interactive Ruby	492	(1)
Ruby Idioms	493	(1)
RDoc Documentation	494	(3)
B Configuration Parameters	497	(4)
Active Record Configuration	497	(1)
Action Pack Configuration	498	(2)
Action Mailer Configuration	500	(1)
Test Case Configuration	500	(1)
C Source Code	501	(30)
The Full Depot Application	501	(25)
Sample System Notifier	526	(1)
Cross-Reference of Code Samples	527	(4)
D Resources	531	(2)
Online Resources	531	(1)
Bibliography	531	(2)
Index	533