Ruby on Rails For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Installing the Software

In This Chapter

• Installing the required software

• Testing that the software is installed properly

• Adding shortcuts to run the software quickly and easily

• There was a young fellow named Nash

• Whose software installing was rash.

• He followed directions,

• But skipped half the sections,

• And caused his computer to crash.

Your system won't crash if you install Ruby on Rails incorrectly. The worst that can happen is that your Ruby program doesn't run. Well, worse than that, your Ruby program doesn't run, and you forget to send me an e‐mail message asking me how to fix it. Remember, this author reads his e‐mail!

Anyway, you don't have to read all the sections in this chapter. (In the limerick, I encourage you to read all the sections, but I do that only because “sections” rhymes with “directions.” It makes a better limerick.) Instead, read enough directions to make sure you don't leave out any crucial steps. That means skimming for what you need to know, skipping descriptions of things you already know how to do, and backtracking occasionally when you stumble onto some unusual computer behavior.

Six Pieces of Software

I recommend that you install six different programs when you begin working with Ruby on Rails. You can get away with fewer programs or different programs, but the list of programs in this chapter includes the easiest, most convenient tools, which are

• The Ruby interpreter

• The Rails framework

• The Java runtime environment

• The RadRails integrated development environment ...