Sorry to admit that I’m an “architect” these days. RoR came on my
horizon recently and I had to have a look. Great framework, full
stop. I built a single-table app and tooled with the css for sexiness
and it was impressive for what it did.
I need to see how this works in the bigger picture. I’d like a
pointer to tutorials on the following. Can you help me with links?
Single-table db-driven application development is 10x faster, I get
it. I need to see how this works in the eXtreme environment. Adding
a db column to my existing table will be good for a start, and then
how do I build relationships? I’m not talking about having a db model
to start with; try prototyping with the user with production in mind.
eXtremely iterative development; how do I do this? I built a list for
tasks. How do I extend this to handle many task lists (one for my
housekeeper, one for each of my staff, one for my government, one for
me)? I expect command-line work from what I’ve seen already. I
expect to be able to transport the data I’ve already entered. Am I
expecting too much?
I need a set of test harnesses. What tools/frameworks do I have for
testing?
I need to see how I can take my dev stuff, which has been tested, to
my production server. Mongrel is fine for dev/test, but my bill-payer
uses Apache or WebLogic or lampp or Microsoft Thing-o. What do I tell
my server guys about what I need to get us running? Where do I put my
gems or jars, or heaven forbid my jewels?
Say I use Mongrel for my internal application. How do I deploy
several RoR applications to my single Mongrel at 3000? How would this
be different to loading them onto my internal Apache or Whatever?
How do I generate code/api documentation?
How do I expose my services? Even if my only service is to provide a
list of tasks to be completed, how do I represent myself? WSDL?
CORBA? SOAP? Show me the interface, please?
Pattern language. I’m not sure of the stance of Dave and Andy on
this, but many people new to RoR may well appreciate this. A
principle as simple as DRY is evident in rake and scaffold and partial
forms. Intricacies are hidden from the novice. Can you expose the
intricacies, please?
expecting too much?
Say I use Mongrel for my internal application. How do I deploy
this, but many people new to RoR may well appreciate this. A
principle as simple as DRY is evident in rake and scaffold and partial
forms. Intricacies are hidden from the novice. Can you expose the
intricacies, please?
That’s a very good suggestion. Unfortunately I’ve spent many years in
Communities where sharing is valued non-commercially. Smalltalk and
Java communities collaborated effectively to share knowledge in the
early days of the Internet, and despite the small bandwidths and small
subscriptions it was very effective. I’m saddened to see so many
books and so few Internet Helpfuls on this very exciting piece of
technology.
If anyone can point me at Internet Helpfuls, I will be truly
appreciative. If anyone can point me at a valid appraisal of the
relevant current texts (October 2008 or nearby), I will be truly
appreciative.
Both Michael S. and Christopher Haupt do an excellent job of walking
you through Rails capabilities end-to-end. Admittedly, you won’t be an
expert by the time you get through this, but you will get most of the
answers for your questions (hopefully).
After that, I would buy the books and go through them. Another
excellent commercial source for in-depth tutorials is www.peepcode.com.
You have to pay for them same as books though.
My experience is that it is relatively easy to get going initially, but
anything beyond it requires a lot of commitment of time and resources
same as any other technology. Still, you get a lot more done in the
same amount of time.
Single-table db-driven application development is 10x faster, I get
it. I need to see how this works in the eXtreme environment. Adding
a db column to my existing table will be good for a start, and then
how do I build relationships? I’m not talking about having a db model
to start with; try prototyping with the user with production in mind.
eXtremely iterative development; how do I do this? I built a list for
tasks. How do I extend this to handle many task lists (one for my
housekeeper, one for each of my staff, one for my government, one for
me)? I expect command-line work from what I’ve seen already. I
expect to be able to transport the data I’ve already entered. Am I
expecting too much?
These questions are somewhat vague. if you wanted to scope task lists
per user then you’d probably start by adding a user_id column to that
table (read up on migrations). User would then have a has_many
association with task_list_item.
I need a set of test harnesses. What tools/frameworks do I have for
testing?
test/unit is baked in. A lot of people use rspec too.
I need to see how I can take my dev stuff, which has been tested, to
my production server. Mongrel is fine for dev/test, but my bill-payer
uses Apache or WebLogic or lampp or Microsoft Thing-o. What do I tell
my server guys about what I need to get us running? Where do I put my
gems or jars, or heaven forbid my jewels?
A lot of people use mongrel in production, with apache or nginx load
balancing to the mongrels. mod_rails (also known as passenger) is also
an option
Say I use Mongrel for my internal application. How do I deploy
several RoR applications to my single Mongrel at 3000? How would this
be different to loading them onto my internal Apache or Whatever?
A single mongrel only ever serves one app.
How do I generate code/api documentation?
There’s a rake task for generating documentation (assuming you’ve been
writing rdoc comments). There are a number of generators (see script/
generate)
How do I expose my services? Even if my only service is to provide a
list of tasks to be completed, how do I represent myself? WSDL?
CORBA? SOAP? Show me the interface, please?
RESTful APIs seem to be the way people are going. The actionwebservice
framework handles SOAP
Pattern language. I’m not sure of the stance of Dave and Andy on
this, but many people new to RoR may well appreciate this. A
principle as simple as DRY is evident in rake and scaffold and partial
forms. Intricacies are hidden from the novice. Can you expose the
intricacies, please?
Not entirely sure what you’re asking here, but if you want to
understand the innards of the framework then the best way is to get
yourself to the point where you can just read the source.
Fred
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