# Rails Documentation Resources **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [November 7, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159 "2006-11-07T20:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cwd)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159/1 "2006-11-07T20:45:54Z")
Breaking this thread out because the last one was somewhat emotionally charged. Some points: - Please do not confuse language documentation with framework documentation. To say that PHP documentation is better that Rails documentation is comparing apples to oranges - Please do not assume that Rails documentation should encompass all of Ruby and all of Rails. When you are looking for information on topics like instance\_variable\_get or instance\_variable\_set, consider that it might be Ruby and not Rails that defines the function Some recommendations: - Find blogs by people you respect on various subjects and bookmark them - Find resources for overall API documentation and bookmark them - Find a list of cheat sheets and bookmark them - Read the Rails mailing list and a clear picture will begin to emerge - Please do not assume that some collection of documents will provide a set of magic recipes whereby you can instantly be an expert Rails developer. You’ll need to work on a complete skill set from OS and server configuration to Ruby to Rails - Take advantage of the great books out there. No, they’re not silver bullets, but they collect a great deal of wisdom into a relatively small number of pages. And… by all means, get the PDF versions when available so you can quickly find any specific item I think it’s a safe statement that nobody who posts on this list was born an expert at developing Rails applications. Over the months and/or years (for the Rails graybeards), people have acquired these skills. It’s also a safe statement that no matter how good documentation is, there will be holes in it somewhere. The question is how big are the holes and what are you willing to do about it? Here are a few resources I rely on: ## The Wiki: [http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails](http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails) Gotapi for general API info: [http://gotapi.com/](http://gotapi.com/) Rails Manual for more up-to-date info than Gotapi: [http://railsmanual.org/](http://railsmanual.org/) Rubydoc for Ruby questions: [http://www.ruby-doc.org/](http://www.ruby-doc.org/) Pickaxe for more Ruby: [http://whytheluckystiff.net/ruby/pickaxe/](http://whytheluckystiff.net/ruby/pickaxe/) Why’s Poignant Guide for more Ruby: [http://poignantguide.net/ruby/](http://poignantguide.net/ruby/) Rails Weenie for cool q&a and tips: [http://rails.techno-weenie.net/](http://rails.techno-weenie.net/) Rails Forum for good give and take discussion: [http://railsforum.com/](http://railsforum.com/) BDD Documentation: [http://rspec.rubyforge.org/documentation/index.html](http://rspec.rubyforge.org/documentation/index.html) Luke R. for great writing about BDD (also look at : [http://www.lukeredpath.co.uk/2006/8/29/developing-a-rails-model-using-bdd-and-rspec-part-1](http://www.lukeredpath.co.uk/2006/8/29/developing-a-rails-model-using-bdd-and-rspec-part-1) Dave A. for BDD philosophy and fundamentals: [http://blog.daveastels.com/](http://blog.daveastels.com/) View this message in context: [http://www.nabble.com/Rails-Documentation-Resources-tf2590986.html#a7225547](http://www.nabble.com/Rails-Documentation-Resources-tf2590986.html#a7225547) Sent from the RubyOnRails Users mailing list archive at [Nabble.com](http://Nabble.com). ---
**Author:** ![cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cwd)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159/2 "2006-11-07T21:08:48Z")
Know what might be nice… I don’t have a free/cheapo host right now (and my time is pretty rushed till winter), but what might work great would be a [del.icio.us](http://del.icio.us) style tagger for rails docs. [http://de.lirio.us/](http://de.lirio.us/) uses the [del.icio.us](http://del.icio.us) API, so we could copy their plugin and change the IP to work with a dedicated rails documentation site. This way, when I read a blog entry on pagnation with rjs, I can tag it right there. Other users can search for issues related to rjs and pagination, and get to their documentation quick. This could organize the dissarray of blogs, wikis, and commercial resources available (maybe have a tag for non-free). It’d address the issue of not having one consolidated resource for documentation, which in reality, we may never have. It wouldn’t solve having a way to depreciate sites or specify what codebase they are referencing, but it would provide for adding that functionality later. Eh? I’d set it up but as I mentioned, I’m pretty busy right now. I’m certainly willing to lend a hand to get things rolling, lord knows I’d like to organize all my rails documentation from all over. my $0.02. Remember to take it easy! 🙂 – Matthew B. :: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid Resume & Portfolio @ [http://madhatted.com](http://madhatted.com) ---
**Author:** ![cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cwd)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159/3 "2006-11-07T21:10:00Z")
I suppose this would be a good point to chime in with my own person experience and suggestions. On 11/7/06, s.ross [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > To say that PHP documentation is better that Rails documentation is > comparing apples to oranges This is an extremely good observation. By all means, if you’re going to learn Rails, then make sure you’ve got a good handle on Ruby first. Personally, I didn’t use the books to learn Ruby, I used one of the tutorials hanging around on the web, then I found a nice quick reference so I could look up how to do specific tasks and bits of syntax (I use this: [Ruby | zenspider.com | by ryan davis](http://www.zenspider.com/Languages/Ruby/QuickRef.html)). Now that I’ve got a good grasp on Ruby, when I need to figure out something more it’s typically an API that I’m trying to learn. In that case, if the API’s docs aren’t helpful enough, I’ll just read the code. That has proven to be a wonderful means to both learn more about writing good Ruby code and how many of these APIs or libraries works. Just to make things clear, by “read the code”, I mean that I’ve been reading the Ruby code…I haven’t yet had to go and read any C. 🙂 - Please do not assume that Rails documentation should encompass all of Ruby > - Please do not assume that some collection of documents will provide a > set > of magic recipes whereby you can instantly be an expert Rails developer. > You’ll need to work on a complete skill set from OS and server > configuration > to Ruby to Rails > - Take advantage of the great books out there. No, they’re not silver > bullets, but they collect a great deal of wisdom into a relatively small > number of pages. And… by all means, get the PDF versions when available > so > you can quickly find any specific item These are all fantastic suggestions. While I did go and buy the various Ruby and Rails books, I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on using them to learn these things, because right now they spend most of their time in the backseat of my car. As I said above, to learn Rails, I’ve mostly been reading the source. I think it’s a safe statement that nobody who posts on this list was born an > Gotapi for general API info: [http://gotapi.com/](http://gotapi.com/) > Rails Manual for more up-to-date info than Gotapi: [http://railsmanual.org/](http://railsmanual.org/) > Rubydoc for Ruby questions: [http://www.ruby-doc.org/](http://www.ruby-doc.org/) The Rails Manual and Rubydoc are both in my bookmarks and are rather heavily used. While Rubydoc isn’t usually all that helpful, the Rails Manual can be quite useful depending on what you’re looking for. Pickaxe for more Ruby: [http://whytheluckystiff.net/ruby/pickaxe/](http://whytheluckystiff.net/ruby/pickaxe/) > Why’s Poignant Guide for more Ruby: [http://poignantguide.net/ruby/](http://poignantguide.net/ruby/) If you can deal with it, Why’s guide does have a lot of very useful information in it. I used it to learn about metaprogramming, but beyond that I personally just can’t stand it. No offence meant to Why, he’s a damn genius, I just can’t stand that guide. 🙂 Rails Weenie for cool q&a and tips: [http://rails.techno-weenie.net/](http://rails.techno-weenie.net/) ---
**Author:** ![cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cwd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 8:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159/4 "2006-11-08T08:42:03Z")
I decided to put a Mephisto blog on some of my server space. It’s now at: [http://rtfm.calicowebdev.com](http://rtfm.calicowebdev.com) I haven’t had time to add much, but you can send suggestions to me and I’ll do it as I have time. Enjoy Sean C.-2 wrote: > This way, when I read a blog entry on pagnation with rjs, I can tag it > Eh? I’d set it up but as I mentioned, I’m pretty busy right now. I’m > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). > > > – View this message in context: [http://www.nabble.com/Rails-Documentation-Resources-tf2590986.html#a7233958](http://www.nabble.com/Rails-Documentation-Resources-tf2590986.html#a7233958) Sent from the RubyOnRails Users mailing list archive at [Nabble.com](http://Nabble.com). ---
**Author:** ![cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cwd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cwd)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-documentation-resources/75159/5 "2006-11-07T21:54:10Z")
I have some server space. Give me some code and a domain and I’ll put it online. steve