# Agile Web Development with Rails Second vs Third edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [September 18, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974 "2008-09-18T20:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/1 "2008-09-18T20:55:34Z")
Hello guys, I am starting with Rails and I have bought the book “Agile Web Development with Rails Second”. The book is very good but I’ve found out already that there are some differences between rails 1.2 and the current 2.1. Is it the old edition good enough to learn rails? or should I try to buy a book based on rails 2.1? Thanks in advance, GA ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/2 "2008-09-18T23:07:50Z")
The “Beta Book” for Third Edition is suppose to be keep up with the latest Rails version, which will likely be at least version 2.2 by the end of the beta cycle. If you use the Second edition it is recommend to use the version of Rails used in the book, or the tutorial code will have problems and you’ll have to deal with that instead of actually learning Rails. Guillermo A. wrote: > Hello guys, > > I am starting with Rails and I have bought the book “Agile Web > Development with Rails Second”. The book is very good but I’ve found > out already that there are some differences between rails 1.2 and the > current 2.1. > > Is it the old edition good enough to learn rails? or should I try to > buy a book based on rails 2.1? > > Thanks in advance, > > GA ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/3 "2008-09-19T02:39:39Z")
I would recommend ‘The Rails Way’ by Obie F. I found that much more helpful than the Agile Web Dev book On Sep 18, 5:07 pm, Robert W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/4 "2008-09-19T05:12:58Z")
On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 5:39 PM, jjburka [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > If you use the Second edition it is recommend to use the version of > > > > > Is it the old edition good enough to learn rails? or should I try to > > > buy a book based on rails 2.1? > > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > > GA Hi, I would recommend Agile Web D. with Rails 3rd Edition as a starting point. You should at least complete the construction of the demo application. Then I would take a look at the following books: “The Rails Way” by Obie F. - an excellent reference on Rails 2.0 but I’m looking forward to an update covering Rails 2.2 “Advanced Rails Recipes” by Mike C. and the Rails community - an excellent cookbook (i.e. problem/solution format) Lastly, you have the people here to assist you along the way. Good luck, -Conrad ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/5 "2008-09-19T06:39:34Z")
All good recommendations, but I would like to toss in Simply Rails 2 as well as a good place to start. So far, I’ve been working through the book using Rails 2.1.1 and have not had any problems so far. ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/6 "2008-09-20T11:12:40Z")
On Sep 18, 9:38 pm, Bobnation [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > All good recommendations, but I would like to toss in Simply Rails 2 I second Bob’s suggestion. I started in Rails with Agile Web Development w/Rails v2, and was happy with it, but I wouldn’t recommend taking the time to learn something that’s already out of date. I got Simply Rails 2 because I wanted a walkthrough of how to do things the Rails 2.0 way, and was very pleased. It doesn’t get sidetracked by dozens of “here’s another way to do the same thing” it just teaches you one way to do it, giving you the most complete toolset in the shortest amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/7 "2008-09-25T17:31:52Z")
A good idea. The Beta PDF is available straight from PragProg … you can give that a shot as well. On Sep 20, 6:40 am, “Commander J.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/8 "2008-09-25T19:31:25Z")
James Burka wrote: > I would recommend ‘The Rails Way’ by Obie F. I found that much > more helpful than the Agile Web Dev book > > On Sep 18, 5:07�pm, Robert W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) I would certainly not recommend the Rails Way to a beginner. The best IMHO is the Agile Web Dev with Rails, unfortunately it is currently outdated, but with little research you should be able to make all the code work. Don’t you have access to the 3rd Ed Beta? ---
**Author:** ![eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@eipipuz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/eipipuz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/agile-web-development-with-rails-second-vs-third-edition/148974/9 "2008-09-20T13:40:57Z")
You can learn rails with v2, but some things like migration file names and especially dynamic scaffolding will be different. If you don’t want to remap everything in your brain, get the 3rd edition eBook.