75 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
75 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
== Welcome to Rails
|
|
|
|
Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create
|
|
database-backed web applications according to the {Model-View-Controller (MVC)}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93controller] pattern.
|
|
|
|
Understanding the MVC pattern is key to understanding Rails. MVC divides your application
|
|
into three layers, each with a specific responsibility.
|
|
|
|
The View layer is composed of "templates" that are responsible for providing
|
|
appropriate representations of your application's resources. Templates
|
|
can come in a variety of formats, but most view templates are HTML with embedded Ruby
|
|
code (.erb files).
|
|
|
|
The Model layer represents your domain model (such as Account, Product, Person, Post)
|
|
and encapsulates the business logic that is specific to your application. In Rails,
|
|
database-backed model classes are derived from ActiveRecord::Base. ActiveRecord allows
|
|
you to present the data from database rows as objects and embellish these data objects
|
|
with business logic methods. Although most Rails models are backed by a database, models
|
|
can also be ordinary Ruby classes, or Ruby classes that implement a set of interfaces as
|
|
provided by the ActiveModel module. You can read more about Active Record in its
|
|
{README}[link:blob/master/activerecord/README.rdoc].
|
|
|
|
The Controller layer is responsible for handling incoming HTTP requests and providing a
|
|
suitable response. Usually this means returning HTML, but Rails controllers can also
|
|
generate XML, JSON, PDFs, mobile-specific views, and more. Controllers manipulate models
|
|
and render view templates in order to generate the appropriate HTTP response.
|
|
|
|
In Rails, the Controller and View layers are handled together by Action Pack.
|
|
These two layers are bundled in a single package due to their heavy interdependence.
|
|
This is unlike the relationship between the Active Record and Action Pack which are
|
|
independent. Each of these packages can be used independently outside of Rails. You
|
|
can read more about Action Pack in its {README}[link:blob/master/actionpack/README.rdoc].
|
|
|
|
== Getting Started
|
|
|
|
1. Install Rails at the command prompt if you haven't yet:
|
|
|
|
gem install rails
|
|
|
|
2. At the command prompt, create a new Rails application:
|
|
|
|
rails new myapp
|
|
|
|
where "myapp" is the application name.
|
|
|
|
3. Change directory to +myapp+ and start the web server:
|
|
|
|
cd myapp; rails server
|
|
|
|
Run with <tt>--help</tt> for options.
|
|
|
|
4. Go to http://localhost:3000/ and you'll see:
|
|
|
|
"Welcome aboard: You're riding Ruby on Rails!"
|
|
|
|
5. Follow the guidelines to start developing your application. You may find the following resources handy:
|
|
|
|
* The README file created within your application.
|
|
* The {Getting Started with Rails}[http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html].
|
|
* The {Ruby on Rails Tutorial}[http://railstutorial.org/book].
|
|
* The {Ruby on Rails Guides}[http://guides.rubyonrails.org].
|
|
* The {API Documentation}[http://api.rubyonrails.org].
|
|
|
|
|
|
== Contributing
|
|
|
|
We encourage you to contribute to Ruby on Rails! Please check out the {Contributing to Rails
|
|
guide}[http://edgeguides.rubyonrails.org/contributing_to_ruby_on_rails.html] for guidelines about how
|
|
to proceed. {Join us}[http://contributors.rubyonrails.org]!
|
|
|
|
== License
|
|
|
|
Ruby on Rails is released under the MIT license.
|
|
|