Rails: Up and Running, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1. Zero to Sixty: Introducing Rails

When we wrote the first version of this book, Rails was just starting to ramp up as a framework. Now, the exploding web development platform is working its way into the mainstream. Companies like Twitter have bet on Rails and won big, and others have tried Rails and crashed hard. You should be comfortable that you’re entering this ecosystem not as a pioneer, but as part of a much greater wave that’s sweeping through the whole computing profession. If you read the first edition, you’ll notice that we’re not selling the framework quite so hard. In all honesty, we don’t have to. Let’s lay the basic foundation so we can get to work.

Rails is a framework for building database-backed web applications. Based on the Ruby programming language, Rails is best for applications that need to be developed quickly without sacrificing a clean structure that can also be well-maintained. Ruby is interpreted, but it’s fast enough to attack websites with all but the most demanding performance characteristics. And it’s tremendously popular. That popularity means you can find what you need to build projects in Rails.

Since the first edition of this book was released, the Rails core team released milestone versions 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, and now 2.1. Today, you can find excellent hosting from dozens of vendors depending on how much management you’re willing to do. And technical officers like me (Bruce Tate) are bringing Rails into the enterprise to run our core businesses. ...