Question about 2nd edition of AWDWR

I just got the Programming Ruby 2nd edition which I have just peaked
at and have done the online tutorial for Rails.
Is the 2nd edition of AWDWR for beginners or more for advanced
developers?

Rae

The AWDWR book is the defacto “bible” for rails and is not just
recommended for beginners… it’s practically essential.

b

I wasn’t sure if it would be over my head at this point or if I should
get some more basic rails book. Thanks

On Feb 10, 2007, at 3:50 PM, Rae wrote:

I wasn’t sure if it would be over my head at this point or if I should
get some more basic rails book. Thanks

The second edition is sort of 3 books in one:

  • an introductory tutorial
  • an overview of the framework
  • a pile of supplementary material (brief intro to ruby, details on
    configuration, security, deployment, resources, etc.)

-faisal

Faisal N Jawdat wrote:

On Feb 10, 2007, at 3:50 PM, Rae wrote:

I wasn’t sure if it would be over my head at this point or if I should
get some more basic rails book. Thanks

The second edition is sort of 3 books in one:

  • an introductory tutorial
  • an overview of the framework
  • a pile of supplementary material (brief intro to ruby, details on
    configuration, security, deployment, resources, etc.)

-faisal

Absolutely, it’s a must for beginners and advanced.

I don’t think you could get more “basic”… about rails at least. If you
aren’t too solid on general programming principles, object-oriented
programming theory, and particularly, web application stuff (http, html,
css, javascript, etc.), then you should really learn some of that stuff
first.

b

Faisal N Jawdat said the following on 02/10/2007 04:13 PM:

The second edition is sort of 3 books in one:

  • an introductory tutorial
  • an overview of the framework
  • a pile of supplementary material (brief intro to ruby, details on
    configuration, security, deployment, resources, etc.)

How different is that from the first edition?


People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.
W. Somerset Maugham

On Feb 10, 2007, at 6:00 PM, Anton A. wrote:

How different is that from the first edition?

Subjectively, the second edition is more thorough and better
organized. YMMV.

-faisal

Hi, the new edition supports and covers Rails 1.2. The previous
edition does not and there have been changes across the Rails framwork
since the first edition. Thus, if you plan to implement and deploy
Rails 1.2 apps, then it’s highly recommended to get the most recent
edition.

Good luck,

-Conrad

Thanks. I’ll probably end up getting both. I’m not a programmer so
this one sounds like it may be a good one for me.

Rae

I think that the author’s goal was to describe Rails as clearly as
possible without regard to a particular experience level. Some topics
can’t help but be advanced; others are fairly simple. The best thing
that you could probably do is focus on Ruby. David Black has an
awesome book for beginners; after that really give the Pickaxe plenty
of time. Ruby, Ruby, Ruby…then Rails will be much easier.

Jim W.