angusgb said
I have extensive experience in both structured and OO programming, but I had never tried the Ruby on Rails framework before - although this technology has been of interest to me for almost two years.
This is the reason why I decided to get a Rails book. I was happy to get "Head First Rails" and "give it a go".
It has been my first book of the "Head First" series. And I must admit I found this learning methodology to be brilliant.
The inductive approach consistently used throughout the book allows students to ask themselves questions and be actively part of the learning process. Starting from observations and examples, the student is encouraged to discover the rules behind this language (probably the term "conventions" is more appropriate).
In my opinion, the concepts that are learnt this way are more solid. I have to say though that this book is mainly targeted to students with good web design concepts and no Rails background. Although Rails has extensive and detailed documentation, I believe the inductive approach makes this book worthwhile.
After a very interesting and comprehensive introductory chapter, which allows users to rapidly create a small web application, the book explains what "scaffolding" is (a Rails technique for faster setup of conventional web applications), when to use it and when not to use it.
The book covers also database interaction (I really appreciated the examples on PostgreSQL, my favourite RDBMS) and CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update and Delete) on database records.
Throughout its 400+ pages, full of images and figures (necessary for the inductive approach), the book cannot extensively cover all the aspects
of an Object Oriented programming framework for web applications. Some aspects are just introduced (routing, validation, XML, REST). However, in my opinion, the book does not fail in helping readers get into Rails
for the first time.
I recommend this book, possibly with parallel readings from the official Rails documentation. Hence I give this book 4 stars (out of 5).
said
I've been interested in Ruby on Rails for the last couple of years. As a Computer Science grad, I didn't so much need a book explaining programming or concepts like object orientation. What I needed was a book explaining the mindset required for the RoR framework. And that is exactly what this book does. I agree with other reviewers; this book would be no good for reference, but it is a great way of getting into RoR. Enjoy.
cnielsen said
Over the last year, I have picked up a few books on Ruby on Rails but the information exits me as soon as it enters. Creating a Rails book in the Head First style is what I needed personally. This is a beginners book, but when a book is subtitled "A learner's Companion", one shouldn't expect anything advanced. For those who are looking for an advanced book, then they should check out The Rails Way by Obie Fernandez.
Ruby on Rails is an interesting and controversial framework, and is often difficult to get beginners help for. There are quite a few elitists who frown on designers and newbies like us trying to learn a framework, so we can make our designs more interactive. But you know what...Tough. There are countless cases where an engineer falls short at the CSS/DOM level and the designer has to take over. This leads to designers having to learn a bit of engineering....
The best thing to do is start at the beginning and practice a lot. Head First Rails covers a lot of projects (interesting) instead of just one (an easy way to lose interest).
In a nutshell, Head First books are designed for a certain type of person. Some don't understand, and complain about them..."theres a lot of pictures", etc... but they miss the point of the books. They're for beginners who want to learn fast and want to retain. They're designed as an educational experience and not a reference. For reference, there's plenty of books by O'reilly and Addison Wesely and others to cover that.
One reviewer here claims that this book teaches old conventions, i.e. the doesn't teach the RESTful method. This is not true. There is an entire chapter devoted to REST, and the project is mashing up a Google map. REST is a trendy term, and can be learned in an hour. As a matter of fact, it took about an hour to do the Google/Ajax map mashup in Head First Rails... sure beats the typical digg/fake bookstore projects in the other Rails books.
Head First Rails has been a joy to read. Its one of those rare books that I carry around with me. If you want to learn rails not just in the modern style but also historically (and thats a big deal, there's tons of Rails 1.x sites out there that need updating), this is the one to start with. After this book, i recommend learning Ruby itself, either in "Learn to Program" by Chris Pine (for beginners) or "Programming Ruby" by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt. After that, I reccomend "The Rails Way" as a reference by Obie Fernandez if you plan on staying in Rails. The Rails Way has everything one needs to know, but is definitely not for beginners. Start here.
tefflox said
I got started in programming with Head First Java (1st ed.) back in 2005 at age 27. Having read several or many more titles since then, Head First is a great place to start, especially for those new to programming. The absence of hazing and snark is somewhat priceless. The book calls for existing knowledge of a programming language, and for that I recommend starting here.
Everyday Scripting with Ruby: For Teams, Testers, and You
These titles in conjunction will make a rewarding experience. Both are very well written and complement each other nicely. There is also room for Head First HTML. You can do it, and this is a good place to start.
ankitlovesmi said
I had to learn Rails for one of my classes this year. I'd looked through many Rails books and I didn't find any of them too helpful. They would either be dull to read or too confusing to understand.
I bought this book a few days back and it has been very helpful. It works through different "projects" through the book whose complexity keeps increasing as you keep progressing. The best part about the book is that it makes sure you understand each and every small thing you do and that really helps me pick up things. It doesn't have the the "just use this for now and we will explain it later" approach. Also, it makes things "fun" and so your mind is not distracted easily towards other things.
I would highly recommend this book for any beginner!
Comments