David Heinemeier Hansson: You thought we were never going to get to this day, didn’t you? Ye of little faith. Because here is the first real, public release of Rails 3.0 in the form of a beta package that we’ve toiled long and hard over. It’s surely not perfect yet, but we were out of blockers on the list, so here we go. Please give it a run around the block, try to update some old applications, try to start some new ones, and report back all the issues you find.
For those who have purchased (or who have yet to purchase) Agile Web Development with Rails, Edition 3, I’ve begun a page which details the differences that affect what is described in the book. Edition 3 was based on Rails 2.2.2, and this page is cumulative. My perception is that the differences that affect applications is way less than the differences between Rails 1 and Rails 2, and frankly not much more than the differences between Rails 2.2 and Rails 2.3.
Work on Edition 4 is well underway, and now that Rails has shipped a beta, I’ll may be able to get a beta of the book out by the end of the month. It will not only be based on Rails 3.0, but will also be focused on current best practices and new APIs.
Rails 3.0 posted by Sam Ruby @ Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:49:22 -0000
Edition 4 of the book certainly will focus on Rails 3.0, but hasn’t been announced yet. Meanwhile instructions on using Edition 3 with Rails 3.0 are being developed and can be found at [link]...
Nice! Thank you for your hard work on this book. So you’ll talk about Arel, the new API structure, and so on? Will you also cover the basics of plugin creation as a Railtie?
jdv: As to arel: I’ve already updated all of the depot scenario and examples to use the new API (as opposed to the soon to be deprecated API), and will cover plugin creation to a lesser extent and in the back portions of the book.
There are three reasons for this. First is that the demographics of people purchasing this book has changed: as Rails usage has exploded, a greater percentage of the people coming to Rails are less enthusiasts and need more coverage of the basics. Second is that the Rails ecosystem is also expanding, and I want to cover (though not in much depth) non-Rails topics such as JQuery, Sinatra, RSpec, etc, and the book is already large enough as is. Finally, the rate of change of Rails itself means that I’m constantly in a race against time.
In many ways this book is intended to address Yehuda’s elephants: i.e. provide a thorough and solid understanding of the basics and defaults, as well as paint a comprehensive (albeit not to the same level of detail) picture of the entire Rails ecosystem.
ARel is now part of the basics and defaults. Plugins are a part of the ecosystem.
That’s great to hear. I’m encouraged to read about the new demographic for the new edition. I prefer the straightforward style of the Agile book over others, but I’m excited to read a version that makes less assumptions about the reader’s prior knowledge and experience. Statements in the 3rd edition like “How many times have you had a client...” just don’t apply to me. I’m still trying to feel conversant with the language & framework, and there’s a kind of spatial- and purpose-related learning about the framework’s various built-in methods that is hard to wring out of existing books and scattered posts. I also like the mention of trying to incorporate some test-first examples, but if that isn’t a big part of the book, I’m sure I’ll get a handle on it one way or another. I assume I’m not the only one with these sentiments, so I thought I’d give you my perspective. Thanks for all your work and your wide view of who makes a worthy reader.
Frankly, those statements don’t generally apply to me either (most of my efforts tend to be more directly collaborative), but do contribute to exposition of the “Agile” principles in this book. They will still be present in the next edition, but be softened a bit. Whereas prior editions actively promoted the notion of “you never really know what’s going to happen next, so be prepared”, the next edition will blend in more of a guided narrative (tell 'em what we are about to do, do it, and tell 'em what we did).
Pretty much all of the credit for this goes to my editor, Susannah Pfalzer.
Rails 3.0 posted by Sam Ruby @ Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:49:22 -0000
Edition 4 of the book certainly will focus on Rails 3.0, but hasn’t been announced yet. Meanwhile instructions on using Edition 3 with Rails 3.0 are being developed and can be found at [link]...