# Lost on what's next **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [December 13, 2007, 4:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976 "2007-12-13T04:54:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/1 "2007-12-13T04:54:27Z")
I’ve finished reading the Agile Web D. with Rails and the Intro to Ruby books. I followed the examples, learned how to create the basics but… I’m not sure what to do next. The books only cover the bare basics, and all the online tutorials are clones of those tutorials. In fact, they all work on the same logic: Create a database, generate a scaffold… LOOK AT RAILS! IT’S AWESOME! while not actually showing you how to -properly- use the Rails framework. I’m an old-school PHP Developer. I need to do something, I find a function in the PHP Manual, read about it, use it. I can’t find similar-quality documentation on Ruby or RoR methods. The tutorials never, EVER cover the WHY or the ##Insert detailed description of function/method here w/ comments/examples##. I’ve tried finding any opensource or public Rails-based apps to tear apart and learn from… the two I’ve found are far to complicated to learn anything from (Tracks and the Rails cart). I’m looking for something that uses basic DB functionality and is decently comment ed or, at least, easily understood. Beyond that… is there a good place to find php-quality commented documentation of methods/functions/etc? ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/2 "2007-12-13T05:13:35Z")
I would take a look at Ruby for Rails by David A. Black. He lays out in detail how to build an online music store. There is also downloadable code that allows one to see exactly how the store app works. Worth a look. On Dec 12, 9:54 pm, “Geoff W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/3 "2007-12-13T05:20:38Z")
I too came from PHP (but I’m not an old school php dev, just some amateur dev) and I did not had trouble starting to develop my first app with rails since I read AWDWR (and I haven’t even finished the book yet). I have to check the API very often and I get lost on some ruby syntaxes still, but I am finding my way with no problems. All I use is the API, Ruby Docs, this mail list and the book. Maybe a google search if I don’t find anything in one of those. Maybe what you need is just a simple project and the will to start working hands on? Remember, Rails is Agile Development… About detailed descriptions of functions/methods, Rails API and RubyDocs sure will help you on that. The way you say it seems like you didn’t “met” them yet. On Dec 12, 7:54 pm, “Geoff W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/4 "2007-12-13T05:25:54Z")
The api can be found here: [http://api.rubyonrails.org](http://api.rubyonrails.org) -Bill ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/5 "2007-12-13T06:01:28Z")
William P. wrote: > The api can be found here: > > [http://api.rubyonrails.org](http://api.rubyonrails.org) > > -Bill Thank you for that link. I guess I overlooked it before. Never thought to look for an API page. This is exactly what I was looking for. I’ve decided to sit down and simply read the good old “Learn To Program” and start fresh, push what I know from PHP to back of my mind while working on a Ruby App. Hopefully, I’ll be able to soon roll a mini-blog for [geeklan.com](http://geeklan.com) and then extend it from there. Again thank you (all) for your responses. ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/6 "2007-12-13T06:40:06Z")
I do have a site to build an application. As I posted a little earlier, i think I’m going to try to start working on a -very- basic blog (at least get my base knowledge and thinking processes in line with Rails development). I’ve been a purely procedural developer up until a few months ago when I started using the CodeIgniter Framework (PHP Framework). This was also my introduction to the MVC Framework (even though I’ve been using something similar to it in my procedural code). CI is a loose MVC Framework though, as you can outright skip using the Model entirely. I’m not sure what made me suddenly decide to try Ruby/RoR. It just popped into my head, so I installed it on my virtual server and started fudging around with it. While I’m not terribly impressed with Ruby’s overall performance, it’s still an awesome language from what I’ve seen. Hopefully, a functional apache module for ruby will be brought to life and maintained, unlike the forgotten mod\_ruby. -G gemblon (t.b.) wrote: > well, this is a bit of an issue. there is an api online, and it is > detailed, but just where to look for something or even to what to look > for, is a bit tricky. then there are gems and then blogs telling you > how to fix the gems. > but all in all, they are a friendly group, and will keep you going. > > for example, building a logon is easy, if you know which one to use. > salt and sugar, acts, and some others are out, and restful is now in. > but you have to be lucky to hit a blog that says that, cause if you just > go right to acts, then you don’t know it is out-dated. you also have > depreciated things that makes a version a concern. > > just explaining when to use helpers, or the controller, or the model, > and how, and even WHY, is a big help. then there is :through > relationships in models. > > if you want to yahoo with me, my id is ‘gemblon’… and you can ask me > questions during the day, and i will tell you what to do next, and WHY, > up to my ability, or point you in the right direction. that will get > you off and running. then post here for the things i don’t know, and > maybe fred or one of the experts will chime in. > > i have a _how to_ site that i am working on, which explains some of the > why, in not so geeky terms. that may help you to explain what i am > talking about, and then there are lots of other how to sites that are > just awesome, > > also: if you have a site to build an application, it works best and > fastest. ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/7 "2007-12-13T14:47:52Z")
Also, a good read to understanding views, partials, layouts, etc is [http://www.railsdev.ws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/modular\_page\_assembly\_in\_rails.pdf](http://www.railsdev.ws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/modular_page_assembly_in_rails.pdf) On Dec 12, 9:40 pm, “Geoff W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/8 "2007-12-13T21:20:12Z")
Hey Bill, I was kinda lost too. At first it seems strange, but you just gotta let yourself go with the magic of Rails. Once you get the feeling, it all starts to make sense. Sure, that works for most situations, but sometimes a more detailed knowledge of what Rails is doing in the background is needed… Cheers, Sazima On Dec 13, 3:01 am, “Geoff W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@geoffw](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/geoffw)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/lost-on-whats-next/122976/9 "2007-12-13T06:07:57Z")
Geoff W. wrote: > I’ve finished reading the Agile Web D. with Rails and the Intro > to Ruby books. > > I followed the examples, learned how to create the basics but… > > I’m not sure what to do next. The books only cover the bare basics, and > all the online tutorials are clones of those tutorials. In fact, they > all work on the same logic: Create a database, generate a scaffold… > LOOK AT RAILS! IT’S AWESOME! while not actually showing you how to > -properly- use the Rails framework. > > I’m an old-school PHP Developer. I need to do something, I find a > function in the PHP Manual, read about it, use it. > > I can’t find similar-quality documentation on Ruby or RoR methods. > > The tutorials never, EVER cover the WHY or the ##Insert detailed > description of function/method here w/ comments/examples##. > > I’ve tried finding any opensource or public Rails-based apps to tear > apart and learn from… the two I’ve found are far to complicated to > learn anything from (Tracks and the Rails cart). > > I’m looking for something that uses basic DB functionality and is > decently comment ed or, at least, easily understood. Beyond that… is > there a good place to find php-quality commented documentation of > methods/functions/etc? well, this is a bit of an issue. there is an api online, and it is detailed, but just where to look for something or even to what to look for, is a bit tricky. then there are gems and then blogs telling you how to fix the gems. but all in all, they are a friendly group, and will keep you going. for example, building a logon is easy, if you know which one to use. salt and sugar, acts, and some others are out, and restful is now in. but you have to be lucky to hit a blog that says that, cause if you just go right to acts, then you don’t know it is out-dated. you also have depreciated things that makes a version a concern. just explaining when to use helpers, or the controller, or the model, and how, and even WHY, is a big help. then there is :through relationships in models. if you want to yahoo with me, my id is ‘gemblon’… and you can ask me questions during the day, and i will tell you what to do next, and WHY, up to my ability, or point you in the right direction. that will get you off and running. then post here for the things i don’t know, and maybe fred or one of the experts will chime in. i have a _how to_ site that i am working on, which explains some of the why, in not so geeky terms. that may help you to explain what i am talking about, and then there are lots of other how to sites that are just awesome, also: if you have a site to build an application, it works best and fastest.