Ruby on Rails Tutorial (3rd Ed.) Learn Web Development with Rails Michael Hartl

by Mateusz on September 03, 2015 at 06:37

This book was my first contact with programming. Thanks to this book I felt in love with programming. I wrote my first application and I hope I will change my live one day!

by Matt M on September 02, 2015 at 22:32

I've been interested in web development for some time now but could never find the right resource to keep me hooked. With this book though Michael keeps me interested and excited by continuously introducing new topics while reminding you of those you've already learned. This gives me a great sense of progression and I have yet to feel completely lost at any point.

by Mike S on September 02, 2015 at 13:36 Verified Buyer

My first exposure to rails was this tutorial and it was impactful in my learning and feeling comfortable with rails. I've gone back through the course multiple times when Ive taken a break from rails, and even bought the screencasts.

by Gianluca Tranchedone on August 31, 2015 at 00:59 Verified Buyer

NOTE: I'm an experienced iOS developer and I had no previous Ruby or Rails knowledge when I came across The Ruby on Rails Tutorial.

This tutorial has been invaluable in getting me started with Rails. I purchased the book + screencasts edition and I've used both materials. The screencasts are really well done and I would recommend watching them first and program alongside the author as I did while using the book for reference later on.

Both the book both assume 0 previous programming knowledge and I believe Mr Hartl did an amazing job explaining every detail of what was to be understood immediately and postpone discourse on what can be considered a little 'magical' when you're just starting out programming.

by Joseph S. on August 29, 2015 at 17:43

Thank you Michael for a great resource.  I am extremely satisfied with the tutorial.  Your approach is very helpful in understanding RoR.  Thank you again for helping me take my web development to another level.

by Matt Y. on August 29, 2015 at 05:58

Amazing, step by step guide with explanation. More than just telling you what keys to type, it gets into the why and how, along with exercised to further learning. Along with screencasts it's an amazing resource for learning Rails and web development in general.

by Rubèn Nieto on August 29, 2015 at 05:55 Verified Buyer

I followed various tutorials online and read some books on web application development and I think this is the best introduction, not only in Rails , but also and especially in the use of good (and safe) development practices . It has given me confidence to know how the process works from the beginning and could well start my own application, with long way to go and much to learn still but from a very solid base.

by Johan Stodberg on August 28, 2015 at 21:04 Verified Buyer

I started using the tutorial online for free and after reaching chapter three I realized it was so good I had to get it. I decided to get the online version so I can keep getting updates on the text. I will probably get the printed version later. The chapters are structured and integrates tools like Git and Heroku. Also teaches good programming practices.

by Darko on August 27, 2015 at 06:48

Teaches you the basics for creating web apps.

by Duccio A. on August 27, 2015 at 02:46

It kick-started my professional life.

by Bruno Paulino on August 26, 2015 at 20:52

I have been learning Ruby and Rails for a while, but this book pushed me so fast that I could learn concepts and TTD really quick. I would say that this book is the first one in my list.

by Mike B. on August 26, 2015 at 19:32

I'm super impressed by Michael's tutorial. It's detailed and comprehensive. It has been extremely helpful in getting me going with Rails.

by Tom Dickinson on August 26, 2015 at 09:58

This is a clear and simple explanation to Rails that walks you through some of the most daunting early challenges and sees you through to the other side--without feeling like it's dumbing anything down. For anyone who's wondering whether the world of web development might be for them, you couldn't do any better than working through Hartl's tutorial. In fact, do it twice.

by Francina H on August 26, 2015 at 00:07 Verified Buyer

Best ruby on rails tutorials you'll find, even for novices like me.

by Tyler VanNurden on August 25, 2015 at 21:18

I read this book as part of a computer science class I took in college. Because of this book, this course was my favorite of college. Today I'm a full time Rails developer and I believe that it is purely because of this amazing book by Mr. Hartl.

by Rick Peyton on August 25, 2015 at 20:03 Verified Buyer

Ruby was my first programming language and I made a commitment in 2013 to learn to code. I started out with Learn to Program (Ruby) by Chris Pine. Next I jumped around between Team Treehouse, Code School and Upcase trying all of their Ruby and / or Rails courses, both free and paid. I came away from all of that able to write a few Ruby scripts and able to at least modify the Rails code if someone else had already written it. But I certainly was no where near prepared to go beyond "rails new my_app" and actually accomplish anything interesting.

Michael Hartl's tutorial changed all of that. Through it I was able to create a quality application and achieve a solid entry-level understanding of models, controllers, git / remote repos and routes and how to go off the rails when necessary. I found myself referencing back to the book several times while working on my own apps after the book.

Michael was also very responsive to a couple of emails I sent his way and I really appreciate that. I ended up doing his video series as well and I really enjoyed the extra info gained from those asides.

Fast forward 18 months. I ended up doing an online bootcamp, attending Rails Conf and landed my first full time programming job. The Ruby on Rails Tutorial was a very worthwhile step in my journey.

by Sam Skinner, PhD on August 25, 2015 at 17:48 Verified Buyer

IMHO, this is the best of the tutorials available for learning Ruby on Rails.  The writing is dense, packed with information, but lucid.  What distinguishes the book is that Hartl does more than provide recipes for the code, he provides understanding.  After working the tutorial one will still have miles to go in mastering Rails, but here you get as firm a beginning as can be had.

by Joshua Santos on August 25, 2015 at 15:37

I read the online tutorial of this book and it helped me so much with starting out writing Ruby on Rails code :) this was an excellent read ^.^

by Simeon B on August 25, 2015 at 14:18 Verified Buyer

This book contains very concise tutorials which allow you to get started very quickly in web development using ruby on rails. It focuses on development the "Rails Way" so that you can almost immediately begin to feel very confident using Rails. This is because the author does not only focus on teaching you the framework, but he also enforces many best practices and industry standards as well. Many complex concepts are explained along with examples to give you a solid foundation of how things work within rails. As a result you are able to quickly adapt to the framework, and just in a few chapters begin to build your first rails web application.I would also recommend watching the screencasts which complement this book and are extremely useful as an additional medium to further facilitate the learning process. This is one of the best, if not the best Rails Tutorial resource available today. It is a definite must have if you intend to commence a journey mastering the rails framework.

by Curtis S. on August 25, 2015 at 09:14

I first purchased the Ruby on Rails Tutorial back in its first revision (in 2000-something, I don't recall the exact date) when I initially heard about this crazy Ruby language and how it was going to rescue me from writing Java code all day.

Even back then this was easily the best programming resource I've ever spent time or money on. The resulting revisions through the years have honed this book into *the* best web development primer for beginners and the best Ruby / Rails primer for beginners or experts. 

I've been programming in various languages for two decades, putting steak on the table. Most technical books are difficult to read due to advanced subject matter. Mr. Hartl finesses even difficult technical material with his unique style, smoothing over the difficult parts and making it very easy to understand. The framework topics are distilled into just enough information to build professional-level, production-quality applications.

This book series is one of the few that is worth spending the upgrade price *every* revision. It helps you get up to speed the first time, and each subsequent revision helps pick up modifications to the frameworks.