Ruby on Rails Fundamentals, Class 1

Ruby on Rails Fundamentals

6:30 PM - 8:30 PMAug 25 - Sep 29

What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby is a language. Rails is a framework.

• If you want to understand Rails, you need to be fluent in Ruby.

• Rails applications are Ruby applications.

The Ruby Language

• Originally by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto• “Ruby is designed for programmer

productivity and fun, following the principles of good user interface design. He stresses that systems design needs to emphasize human, rather than computer, needs.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_(programming_language)#History

• Ruby 1.0 was released in 1996.

What you will learn

• Ruby– Language concepts– Language syntax– Common patterns

• Rails Framework: creating web applications– Scaffold– Model, View, Controllers– SQL Queries– HTTP with REST and Routes– Log files and debugging– Associations

How you will learn

• Exploration: experiment, play• Test-Driven Development (TDD)– Initially as a learning methodology– Later as a development methodology

• Ask questions• Learn to find your own answers• Read

• Plus whatever works best for you

Class Structure

• Talk• Live Coding Demonstrations• In-class coding• Coding at home (or in social groups)• Google Group

Ruby Language Overview

• Dynamically typed• Interpreted• Can be modified at runtime• Object oriented• Blocks & lambdas• Nice support for Regular Expressions

Lets get started

• IRB: InteractiveRuBy>> 4>> 4 + 4

Everything is an object

“test”.upcase“test”.class“test”.methods

Everything evaluates to something

2 + 2(2+2).zero?

Methods are Messages

thing.do(4)thing.do 4thing.send “do”, 4

Operators are Methods

thing.do 4thing.do(4)thing.send “do”, 4

1 + 21.+(2)1.send "+", 2

Iteration

my_list = ["cat", "dog", ”world"]my_list .each do |item| puts "hello" + itemend

Test-First Learning

• Similar methodology to TDDwith a different purpose and workflow

• Teacher writes the test• Student implements the code

Test-Driven Development

• Design• Focus / Project Management• Creation of Tests

Time to Write Code