Rails features built, broken and fixed on screen.
RailsCasts (Mobile) is a Ruby on Rails screencast where the host opens a small sample app, such as a store, a blog or a recipe site, and adds a working feature on screen. The recordings show the errors, failing specs and awkward workarounds along the way, then end with the host's plain view of the trade-offs.
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RailsCasts (Mobile) is a Ruby on Rails screencast that teaches by building. A typical episode begins with a small application and a clear target. One is a store scaffolded with a product name and price. Another is a blog whose articles each have many comments. A third is a cookbook site where users share recipes, leave comments and add each other as friends. The host then builds a working feature on screen, writing code, reloading the page and checking the result. In '#417 Foundation' that means adding Zurb Foundation to a fresh app, pasting in a prepared top navigation bar, and overriding Sass variables to turn its background dark blue. Along the way the host notes that Foundation is built on Sass rather than Less, which can make it easier to fit into a Rails app, and that it can run on the smaller Zepto.js instead of jQuery. In '#409 Active Model Serializers' the blog gets a JSON API, and its comments move to the root level for the benefit of client-side JavaScript frameworks. Upgrades get the same hands-on treatment. The Rails 4 upgrade walkthrough starts with a checklist: the latest Rails 3.2, up-to-date gems, Ruby 1.9.3 or newer, and a test suite that passes. Then things break. The router rejects the old match method, the specs fail on mass assignment from a Papertrail model, and each problem is fixed until the upgrade goes through. The host does not pretend every fix is elegant. In the activity-feed episode, the model reaches into the controller to record the current user. The host says this workaround feels kind of ugly, then keeps it because it works. Comparisons end with the same honesty: Foundation and Twitter Bootstrap are both called great frameworks, and choosing between serializers and view templates is called a question with no wrong answer. Two episodes open by citing viewer requests. One asked for a GitHub-style activity feed, the other for importing the CSV and Excel files that an earlier episode showed how to export. The series often points back to itself, citing earlier numbered installments on Twitter Bootstrap, Turbolinks and the new features of Rails 4. Episode 400 marks the milestone by trying out Rails 4 from the master branch, celebrating that the public index.html file no longer has to be deleted, and showing how to remove Turbolinks. It closes with a challenge to learn a new language or framework, graphic design, or something outside technology, because trying new things makes for better Rails developers. For a developer choosing a CSS framework, '#417 Foundation' is the obvious entry point, and for one holding a Rails 3.2 app, '#415 Upgrading to Rails 4'.
Made for: Suits a Rails developer who learns best by watching code get written, run and fixed inside a real app. It also suits one who wants to see a gem or an upgrade path working before touching their own codebase.
What sets it apart: Each technique is built inside a small working app with the errors and fixes left in view, and the host openly flags ugly workarounds and declines to name a winner between similar tools. Episodes also refer back to earlier numbered installments, so the catalog reads as a connected reference.
Every other week you will be treated to a new, free RailsCasts episode featuring tips and tricks with Ruby on Rails, the popular web development framework. These screencasts are short and focus on one technique so you can quickly move on to applying it to your own project. The topics are geared toward the intermediate Rails developer, but beginners and experts will get something out of it as well. A Pro option is also available containing more screencasts each week. This version is for mobile devices which cannot support the full resolution version.
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Rails 3.2-to-4.0 upgrade becomes a practical pass through failing specs, deprecations, and targeted fixes.
This episode frames a Rails 3.2-to-4.0 upgrade as careful maintenance rather than a leap of faith. It begins with the basics: move to the latest Rails 3.2 release, update gems, confirm Ruby 1.9.3 or newer, and make sure the test suite passes before working on a separate git…
A hands-on Rails 4 preview covering setup, generated pages, assets, Turbolinks, and controller changes.
RailsCasts' 400th episode treats Rails 4 as something to try at the bench, starting with a master-branch clone because there is no gem pre-release available at recording time.
Power Platform news with practical static.
RailsCasts #400 walks through Rails 4.0.0 by building a blog app from the master branch, with Ruby 1.9.3+ and a Bundler pre-release workaround called out early.
RailsCasts #360 builds Facebook authentication into a Rails movie-review app named Cinematron.
This episode explains how to build a versioned REST API in Ruby on Rails, separate from the HTML interface.
This episode demonstrates how to create a multi-step signup form in Ruby on Rails using the Wicked Gem.
This episode demonstrates how to deploy a Rails application to Amazon EC2 using the Rubber gem.