Note to self: DataMapper String properties are defaulted to 50 char max.

The Rails 3 Way - Review

Author: Obie Fernandez & Friends

You may ask yourself why you need this GIGANTIC book especially having already purchased The Rails Way. I’m here to tell you to shell out the clams and pick this up! There you go, that is my review. Oh, did that not convince you? OK… let me go into a little bit more detail.

First off let it be known that I started out this read with a review copy from my favorite user group ChicagoRuby. I enjoy getting the book knowledge at the insanely small cost of a book review. Really go check out your local user groups for similar deals! Anyway, I mention that because after enjoying the book so much I went and purchased a kindle edition so I could have it along with me all the time (the code written in this edition is very easy to read).

Not enough yet? OK. Have you read Obie’s first attempt in The Rails Way? Me too. I thought it was informative but just seemed like the Ruby on Rails API in printed form. I feel in this new edition there is a great deal not only rewritten for all the changes in Rails 3 but appears to have more editorial content as well. That’s what I ended up really loving about this book. Yes Obie and friends go through new and old API but also add in scenarios on how and when you’d use them. A bunch are stuff that a seasoned developer would already know but many caught me off guard as things I would have never thought of.

So not only do you get a huge amount of information but it is a somewhat easy read. A book this size is obviously more of a reference material to be used now and later but I found it to be a really easy read. I actually read it straight through to see what really changed about the first edition. Now I don’t recommend that for everyone, it is really made to jump around from chapter to chapter when needed.

With all of that being said… I want to let you know that this is a highly opinionated writing. We should expect that from Obie and the overall Rails community. What I didn’t expect was that the book is even opinionated on the tools that are discussed. Right out of the gate Obie explains that he will not be going over Test/Unit and ERB as they are inferior to RSpec and Haml.

So in closing I want to reiterate that I highly suggest you get this book. Software moves fast especially the Rails API but I feel this book has many core API and development concepts that will be usefully for a while to come. Go pick it up now and tell ‘em Matt sent ya.

RTFM? FU!

First of all, I’d like to start out by congratulating Ryan Bigg on his Ruby Hero award. I saw a tweet announcing it and decided to see who this guy was. In reading many of his articles, this one sparked my interest enough for me to chime in on the subject.

The article talks about (go read it… it’s short, I’ll wait) how this scenario plays out in every programming language’s IRC channel.

<new_guy> How do I do x?
<old_hat> omg noob RTFM plz

I would like to just state now that I HATE that acronym! Maybe it’s because I was <new_guy> (and probably still am in many cases). I understand that you may have cut your teeth deep in a dark code mine but the rest of us may not have/want to. This simple little phrase hurts the community that is built around whatever language you’re working in. It says hey dude that needs help… I’m better than you and don’t really need to be wasting my time. Also… I’m a dickhole.

I understand that hand holding is probably not the best way to teach someone but not everyone learns the same. Give that person who is requesting help a little time. At least show them the place in the manual where they would find the information they are looking for. Don’t just brush them off. I get it… it can be frustrating to be the ‘go to’ person especially if you’re not into helping people. For me I feel reward in helping others. It’s a great feeling to know I’m helping the community around me grow.

Currently I’m in a situation where I get to help people learn everyday. Am I a teacher? No, not in any formal way but I take the time to make sure everyone around me is helped when they need it. I’m no saint, because there comes a time when there just isn’t enough to go around and you have to be a little short with people but I still take that minute to confirm they are on the right path to their learning destination.

Like I said, I’m no saint.. but I’m also not a dickhole. And that’s a good thing, cause apparently there are enough of those in the world.