I used this book for a grad class project that had to do with building multimedia database system with Ruby on Rails framework. This is the first of the "cookbook" series I ever purchased, so I was a bit skeptical in the beginning. I am very pleased with this book. It has detailed solutions for several of the common problems. I had successfully built a nice multimedia database driven application in a single weekend with this book. Code examples are well presented and it's easy to incorporate it into your application. This is not a beginner's book. If you know nothing about Ruby or Rails, you should get a beginner's book first - I used "Build Your Own Ruby On Rails" by Patrick Lenz [note that this book is available for free download on the web - search for it on Google]. I am very highly pleased with this purchase and I will recommend it highly especially to those who want to get up and running quickly.
Practical book for working programmers.
The "Rails Cookbook" is a very useful book for the working programmer.
Programming is all about solving problems, and that is exactly what this book is about. Each "Recipe" contains the problem, the solution and a discussion about the solution. They are concise without being too vague to be useful.
The book contains almost 200 of these problems / solutions.
This probably wouldn't be a good introduction to the language or the framework, but if you already are familiar with both - this book is a very valuable tool to help you get your work done.
Love the recipie format
Now that I've encountered a few recipies books, I have to admit I'm in love with the format. I proves very practical and much easier to use.
Essential once you start building your first app
Probably my most worn RoR book. It doesn't teach you Ruby or Rails since it's really a how-to book. I learned Ruby and Rails from other books but once I set out to build an app, I often thought to myself "now I remember reading about this somewhere, I just can't remember the syntax." Instead of digging through my other books, I thumbed through the TOC and quickly found a refresher. Well worth your money and saves you a lot of time spent on google or searching for solutions in other books.
Will reach both programmers and serious programming libraries.
Web programmers and practicing developers working with Rails will want this solution-oriented guide to building web 2.0 applications - a guide packed with recipes for success from the basics of installing and using Rails to the latest applications. Learn how to work with an application's logic, how to test and debit a Rails application, and use Rails plug-ins with RAILS COOKBOOK: APPLICATIONS FOR RAPID WEB DEVELOPMENT WITH RUBY, which covers version 1.2 and will reach both programmers and serious programming libraries.
