# NewB questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 23, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newb-questions/141244 "2008-06-23T23:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pruckelshaus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newb-questions/141244/1 "2008-06-23T23:44:19Z")
Hi, A project came up that has made me realize that it’s time to learn RoR. I’ve got everything up and running (Ruby 1.8.6, Rails 2.1, MySQL 5, Webrick) and am using Aptana with RadRails for development. I’ve installed the “recipes” demo application and have been poking around for the past couple of hours, and now I have a few questions about how things work: 1. Where’s the SQL? I see the methods that get the data in recipes\_controller.rb, but can’t for the life of me figure out how Rails gets the info from the database, SQL-wise. 2. On the main recipes page, there is a link to create a “new recipe” with this code: \<%= link\_to ‘New recipe’, new\_recipe\_path %\>. I’m assuming new\_recipe\_path is a variable set somewhere, but I can’t find where it’s being set? 3. How do I extend Rails? I like the idea of things like \<%= link\_to … %\>, but say I want to do something like this: \<%= link\_image\_to image\_path(“new.png”), new\_recipe\_path %\> (i.e. make the link an image rather than text, which I can’t find in the API so assume does not exist). 4. Where do I set constants for the entire app, /app/controllers/application.rb? One thing that has also occurred to me while looking at the sample app and a number of online resources is that Ruby on Rails is somewhat limited in its scope; in other words, it seems great for fairly straightforward applications, but for “big and ugly” apps like auctions, online ticket sales, and that sort of thing, it might not be the best tool to use. Is this a fair assessment? My other primary programming languages are Java and ColdFusion; CF gets bashed a lot for being web development on training wheels, but sometimes that’s what I like about it…however, I’ve been able to build some rather complex apps with it. Thanks for any answers and/or insight you can provide, Pete ---
**Author:** ![pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pruckelshaus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newb-questions/141244/2 "2008-06-24T01:54:00Z")
1. All SQL commands are handled by Rails unless you explicitly tell it to do something in SQL. 2. new\_recipe\_path is a method generated by calling map.resources :recipes in your config/routes.rb file. For more information see here: [frozenplague.net](http://frozenplague.net/2008/01/06/restful-routing-an-overview/) 3. Just nest the method calls: link\_to(image\_tag(“woop.jpg”), new\_recipe\_path) 4. You can set constants in config/environment.rb, right at the bottom of the file (that’s my favourite spot) – Appreciated my help? Recommend me on Working With Rails [http://workingwithrails.com/person/11030-ryan-bigg](http://workingwithrails.com/person/11030-ryan-bigg) ---
**Author:** ![pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@pruckelshaus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pruckelshaus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newb-questions/141244/3 "2008-06-24T18:43:08Z")
Pete Ruckelshaus wrote: > Hi, > > A project came up that has made me realize that it’s time to learn RoR. > I’ve got everything up and running (Ruby 1.8.6, Rails 2.1, MySQL 5, > Webrick) and am using Aptana with RadRails for development. I’ve > installed the “recipes” demo application and have been poking around for > the past couple of hours, and now I have a few questions about how > things work: Hi Pete, Have you picked up a book for learning Rails? That would be very good investment, not only of a few of your dollars, but a number of your hours. Agile Web D. with Rails is a great resource. It is currently being updated for Rails 2.x.x, so if you get the older one, it will be for Rails 1.2. There are some differences that could trip you up, but there have been some posts here and elsewhere describing the differences and making it possible to use the older book with newer Rails. Or, you could just install Rails 1.2.6 and not worry about it. Peace, Phillip