Are you a tester who spends more time manually creating complex test data than using it? A business analyst who seemingly went to college all those years so you can spend your days copying data from reports into spreadsheets? A programmer who can’t finish each day’s task without having to scan through version control system output, looking for the file you want?

If so, you’re wasting that computer on your desk. Offload the drudgery to where it belongs, and free yourself to do what you should be doing: thinking. All you need is a scripting language (free!), this book (cheap!), and the dedication to work through the examples and exercises.

Everyday Scripting with Ruby is divided into four parts. In the first, you’ll learn the basics of the Ruby scripting language. In the second, you’ll see how to create scripts in a steady, controlled way using test-driven design. The third part is about finding, understanding, and using the work of others–and about preparing your scripts for others to use. The fourth part, more advanced, is about saving even more time by using application frameworks.

Beginning Ruby on Rails E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional is the first book of its kind to guide you through producing e-commerce applications with Rails–the stacked web framework taking the world by storm. The book dives right into the process of creating a production-level web application using agile methodologies and test-driven development combined with Rails best practices. You'll take advantage of the latest crop of Rails plug-ins and helpers that will radically improve your programming schedule. You'll also create a real application step-by-step, plus the book is driven by real-world cases throughout.
You will begin by learning how to install Rails and quickly create a product catalog interfaced with your choice of database technologies. Then you'll discover how to build modern, Ajax-powered shopping carts and add useful features like customer feedback modules. Next you'll learn how to integrate your application with open source packages like the Ferret full-text search engine, and how to interface with back-end electronic payment systems. You'll also learn how to make your application work flawlessly with existing production systems using web services, and then ultimately deploy and tune your application for production use.

 Rails Cookbook is packed with the solutions you need to be a proficient developer with Rails, the leading framework for building the new generation of Web 2.0 applications. Recipes range from the basics, like installing Rails and setting up your development environment, to the latest techniques, such as developing RESTful web services.
With applications that are code light, feature-full and built to scale quickly, Rails has revolutionized web development. The Rails Cookbook addresses scores of real-world challenges; each one includes a tested solution, plus a discussion of how and why it works, so that you can adapt the techniques to similar situations. Topics include:
-Modeling data with the ActiveRecord library
-Setting up views with ActionView and RHTML templates
-Building your application's logic into ActionController
-Testing and debugging your Rails application
-Building responsive web applications using JavaScript and Ajax
-Ensuring that your application is security and performs well
-Deploying your application with Mongrel and Apache
-Using Capistrano to automate deployment
-Using the many Rails plugins
-Working with graphics
Whether you're new to Rails or an experienced developer, you'll discover ways to test, debug and secure your applications, incorporate Ajax, use caching to improve performance, and put your application into production. Want to get ahead of the Web 2.0 curve? This valuable cookbook will save you hundreds of hours when developing applications with Rails.

The definitive, Jolt-award winning guide to learning and using Rails is now in its Second Edition. Rails is a new approach to web-based application development that enables developers to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications using less code and less effort. Now programmers can get the job done right and still leave work on time.
NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION: The book has been updated to take advantage of all the new Rails 1.2 features. The sample application uses migrations, Ajax, features a REST interface, and illustrates new Rails features. There are new chapters on migrations, active support, active record, and action controller (including the new resources-based routing). The Web 2.0 and Deployment chapters have been completely rewritten to reflect the latest thinking. Now you can learn which environments are best for your style application, and see how Capistrano makes managing your site simple. All the remaining chapters have been extensively updated. Finally, hundreds of comments from readers of the first edition have been incorporated, making this book simply the best available.

Solve these twenty-five popular programming puzzles, and sharpen your programming skills as you craft solutions.
You'll find interesting and challenging programming puzzles including:
800 Numbers
Crosswords
Cryptograms
Knight's Tour
Paper, Rock, Scissors
Tic-Tac-Toe
Texas Hold-Em
…and more.
Learning to program can be quite a challenge. Classes and books can get you so far, but at some point you have to sit down and start playing with some code. Only by reading and writing real code, with real problems, can you learn.
The Ruby Quiz was built to fill exactly this need for Ruby programmers. Challenges, solutions, and discussions combine to make Ruby Quiz a powerful way to learn Ruby tricks. See how algorithms translate to Ruby code, get exposure to Ruby's libraries, and learn how other programmers use Ruby to solve problems quickly and efficiently.

Rubyisms is an examination of how the style of Ruby informs the design of Rails. In particular, it looks at a few specific examples of how Rails' internal code is implemented in Ruby to instruct about Ruby's design principles. The main goal is simply aesthetic appreciation. But, if you are a beginning programmer in Rails who is stymied in your understanding of Ruby–or an intermediate Rails developer still writing code that looks like Ruby-tinged PHP or Java–this Short Cut will hopefully impart enlightenment and inspiration about the Ruby way of programming. It also reveals how the revolutionary design of the Rails framework can only be built upon the beauty of Ruby.

Ruby is an interpreted language, capable of saving programmers considerable time during program development since no compilation and linking are necessary. It is ideal for writing text-processing applications, server-side scripts, application prototypes, mathematics, and for many everyday programming tasks.
* Reviews Ruby's clever syntax and demonstrates why that makes it a perfect choice for beginning programmers, and also shows how its multipurpose capabilities make it a sound choice for experienced developers
* Explores Ruby's uses for prototyping, text processing, and other tasks

Rails is large, powerful, and new. How do you use it effectively? How do you harness the power? And, most important, how do you get high quality, real-world applications written?
From the latest Ajax effects to time-saving automation tips for your development process, Rails Recipes will show you how the experts have already solved the problems you have.

Use generators to automate repetitive coding tasks.
Create sophisticated role-based authentication schemes.
Add live search and live preview to your site.
Run tests when anyone checks code in.
How to create tagged data the right way.
and many, many more…
Owning Rails Recipes is like having the best Rails programmers sitting next to you while you code.

RJS templates are an exciting and powerful new type of template added to Rails 1.1. Unlike conventional Rails templates that generate HTML or XML, RJS templates generate JavaScript code that is executed when it is returned to the browser. This JavaScript generation allows you to perform multiple page updates in-place without a page reload using Ajax. All the JavaScript you need is generated from simple templates written in Ruby. This document helps you get acquainted with how RJS templates fit into the Rails framework and gets you started with a few easy-to-follow examples.

One of the most powerful aspects of the Rails framework is the ability to extend and override it within your own applications. This is achieved through the Rails plugin mechanism, which provides an avenue for Rails developers to add powerful new features to their applications and share this functionality with the worldwide community.This short cut introduces Rails plugins and considers each aspect of their behavior and development. You’ll learn what plugins are, how they work, and why they’re useful. Discover how to find and install plugins using the provided script, then explore the world of plugin development, including common plugin idioms, testing, and version control. Finally, learn how to share your own plugins.