Any programmer knows that an API is only half the story, and with Ruby on Rails(r) this is especially true. Good Rails development, like good web development, is much more about the design choices you make than the framework you have at your disposal. Written by an experienced web application developer, this book picks up where the API leaves off and explains how to take good Rails code and turn it into beautiful Rails code: simple, effective, reusable, evolvable code.

In a blend of design and programming, this book identifies and describes the very latest in design patterns, programming abstractions, and development methodologies that have emerged for the modern web. Ruby on Rails offers a completely new way of thinking about and using these emerging techniques, and learning to think like a Rails developer will enable you to rapidly design and write high-quality code with elegance and maintainability. With each design technique, you will discover how Rails incorporates it into its domain-specific language, and you will learn how to weave it seamlessly into your own Rails applications. Then you will learn how to take the next step and transform yourself from user into creator, making your own additions to Rails and crafting a development environment tailored to your specific needs.

What you will learn from this book

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Techniques for organizing your code between and within Model, View, and Controller to eliminate code repetition and maximize your effectiveness

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How to think like a REST-based developer and use Rails 2.0 to translate these thoughts into your code

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Advanced Ruby and meta-programming: how to use features such as block-based development, monkey patching, and dynamic APIs to build your own additions to the Rails framework

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Design patterns for AJAX, web APIs, HTML decomposition, schema development, meta-programming, and more

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Behavior-driven development: A new style of testing and development centered around stories and behaviors instead of method calls and assertions

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Ways to make your development both productive and fun in the software you write

Who this book is for

This book is for developers familiar with Ruby on Rails who are looking to advance their skills by learning the design and coding techniques that enable a mastery of web application development with Rails.

Wrox guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think. Written by programmers for programmers, they provide a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.