The Ruby on Rails Tutorial Book
- A book-in-progress—drafts currently available for chapters 1–6
- Up-to-date with Rails 2.3.5
- Will be updated to Rails 3 as soon as possible
- Associated screencast series coming soon
About the author
Ruby on Rails Tutorial author Michael Hartl is a programmer, educator, and entrepreneur. Michael was coauthor of RailsSpace, a best-selling Rails tutorial book published in 2007, and was cofounder and lead developer of Insoshi, a popular social networking platform in Ruby on Rails. Previously, he taught theoretical and computational physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for six years, where he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000. Michael is a graduate of Harvard College, has a Ph.D. in Physics from Caltech, and is an alumnus of the Y Combinator program.
Praise for the Ruby on Rails Tutorial book
RailsTutorial.org: Michael Hartl's Awesome New Rails Tutorial
RailsTutorial.org, a.k.a. the Ruby on Rails Tutorial, is an all new Ruby on Rails tutorial being developed by Michael Hartl (of RailsSpace and Insoshi fame). Drafts are currently live for chapters 1 through 4 and the tutorial aims to be a thorough and practical introduction to Rails. [Note: Chapter 6 is now available.] An associated screencast series is also set to follow… Currently the book is viewable online and the layout is splendid.
Ruby on Rails Tutorial is the best!
Just wanted to say that your Ruby on Rails tutorial is the best!
I've been trying for awhile to wrap my head around Rails. Going through your tutorial, I'm finally feeling comfortable in the Rails environment. Your pedagogical style of gradually introducing more complex topics while at the same time giving the reader the instant gratification and a sense of accomplishment with working examples really works for me. I also like the tips and suggestions that gives me a sense of learning from a real Rails insider. Your e-mail response to a problem I ran into is an example of your generous sharing of your experience.
I love the writing style of the Rails Tutorial
I love the writing style of the Rails Tutorial and there is so much content that is different from other Rails books out there, making it that much more valuable.
I'm eagerly awaiting the other chapters and I'll give feedback (useful hopefully).
Thanks for your work.
—Allen Ding
The best introduction to Rails I've ever seen
This is the best introduction to Rails I've ever seen. Rails is amazing, but with the fast moving pace of the tools the community use, I've always felt like it was some sort of exclusive club I couldn't get into. But after going through just the first chapter and having a Rails app up and running using Git, with a GitHub repo and deployed on Heroku, I don't feel left out anymore. Keep up the amazing work!
Impressive
Sometimes I feel the text is too long and I think it is all clear on the page, before I even read it. Sometimes I stumble a little and may even re-read the paragraph or two, figuring out what I missed. But in the end of the chapter I feel I grasped everything, can do the exercises easily, know where to look for the answer.
I honestly think the book is tremendously effective in making Ruby on Rails even more popular and in making programming so much fun!
Can't wait to read the remainder! Thanks for making more people more able!
I am really enjoying the Rails Tutorial
I am really enjoying the Rails Tutorial. I have just finished Chapter 4 and I am chomping at the bit to get to the next chapters. Do you have any idea when you might post more? [Note: Chapter 6 is now available.] Thank you and I look forward to Chapters 5-10.
Praise for the author’s previous work
My favorite of the Ten Ruby and Rails Books on my desk
For this beginner/intermediate programmer struggling to become a Ruby and Rails expert, RailsSpace strikes a perfect chord…
I don't know how to put it into to the right words, but this book's code flows.
I always enjoy the rare book that sets a standard of excellence, and that is what puts this book at the top of my Ruby on Rails Library.
Invaluable resource for hands-on learning of Ruby on Rails
RailsSpace does an excellent job of teaching Ruby on Rails through a hands-on, real world application.
Great starter book for RoR
This book is terrific. I started my journey into RoR by buying the two canonical starter books, Programming Ruby and Agile Web Development with Rails…
Then I got this book. Concepts that had eluded me or been difficult suddenly became clear and intuitive. These authors really lead you by the hand through elements of RoR that may be unfamiliar to developers coming from other tools.
Great learning tool!
An excellent example of building a simple Rails application from the ground up. Great for learning Rails, as following an example is a good way to make concrete something as flexible and generic as Rails. Kudos, Michael!