Aptana RadRails: An IDE for Rails Development: A comprehensive guide to using RadRails to develop your Ruby on Rails projects in a professional and productive manner Review

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Aptana RadRails: An IDE for Rails Development: A comprehensive guide to using RadRails to develop your Ruby on Rails projects in a professional and productive manner ReviewI do not believe this book was edited by a professional. If it were, it would never have been published.
Reading this book was like watching Fisher Stevens in the original "Short Circuit" movie (If you don't remember, he was the scientist; good guy, helpful and entertaining but constantly threw out one-liners that showed a limited command of the English language). Imagine an entire book written by his character and you have this book, Aptana RadRails.
Read the following statements with the Fisher Stevens accent and see what I mean: "If you still didn't, it's high time to start your Eclipse." or "Neat, uh?" or "Let's face it! We cannot help ourselves when a new gadget falls into our hands." And, yes, each of these statements is an actual quote from Aptana RadRails. Though they have potential entertainment value, they demonstrate the lack of quality in the writing of this book.
I am sure the author knows the material. He could probably do amazing things with Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Eclipse, or RadRails. However, technical writing is also a skill, just not one mastered by the "author" of this book.
Quality products like Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Eclipse, and RadRails deserve professional treatment.
Unfortunately, this book did not deliver.
BTW: My employer has a policy that I include a disclaimer on any commentary that I deliver on the web. Here it is: this review does not reflect the views or opinions of my employer.Aptana RadRails: An IDE for Rails Development: A comprehensive guide to using RadRails to develop your Ruby on Rails projects in a professional and productive manner OverviewAptana RadRails is an Integrated Development Environment for Ruby on Rails projects. Built on top of the well-known Eclipse platform, RadRails provides all the tools you need to create a whole Rails application from a single interface, allowing you to focus on the creative part of the development as your IDE takes care of the mechanics. This book is for Ruby on Rails developers who want to make the most of the framework by using an Integrated Development Environment. Even though the book explains everything you need to follow the contents, the focus is on how to use the tool and not on the Rails framework itself, so previous working knowledge of Rails is highly advisable. Previous knowledge of Eclipse is not necessary.

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Pro NetBeans IDE 6, Rich Client Platform Edition (Expert's Voice in Java) Review

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Pro NetBeans IDE 6, Rich Client Platform Edition (Expert's Voice in Java) ReviewThis is the 'help' menu that Sun should have provided. The author offers a broad view of what NetBeans has to offer from basic installation, to detailed java application examples, to de-bugging and version control; much more than I anticipated. Being more of an 'example type' person, I'd like to have seen more examples, but to keep the book content balanced I assume the author had to draw the line somewhere. I've tried finding other 'current' (NetBeans version 6 or higher) and there's nothing out there that compares to this book. Well worth an Amazon purchase.Pro NetBeans IDE 6, Rich Client Platform Edition (Expert's Voice in Java) OverviewPro NetBeans IDE 6 Rich Client Platform Edition focuses on enabling the reader to rapidly develop Java-based Rich Client Platforms (RCP) or graphical user interface (GUI) front-ends for standalone or Web applications using API buttons, functions, and features available in the open source agile NetBeans IDE (Integrated Development Environment) platform.NetBeans IDE 6 is mostly based on Java SE 6, Sun's Java client platform (This is entirely different from the NetBeans IDE 5.5 Enterprise Edition plug-ins or add-on packs that are mostly based on Java EE 5, Sun's Java enterprise edition. Just as Java SE 6 is different from Java EE 5, so is NetBeans 6 different from NetBeans 5.5. NetBeans 6 is not a direct upgrade from NetBeans 5.5).Moreover, Pro NetBeans IDE 6 Rich Client Platform Edition discusses the plug-in options available for RCP development, including JSF (JavaServer Faces) as well as the new Struts Action Framework 2.0 and JRuby for bringing Ruby on Rails feature set to Java via NetBeans development.

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Ruby on Rails Bible Review

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Ruby on Rails Bible ReviewI found this book to be a pretty good overview of the Rails framework. It covers the basics, and is clearly written. I didn't find it to be a "bible" of RoR, in that my expectations of such a book would be a very in depth collection of information. This is why I rate it a 4/5.
That being said, it's a good book, and worth owning if you are new to RoR.Ruby on Rails Bible OverviewThanks to the explosive growth in popularity of the Rails framework, the equally popular Ruby programming language now has a great place to hang its hat. The powerful combination of the two provides the perfect toolset to create Web applications that feature concise code, clean syntax, and easy maintenance. This must-have book is your best guide on how to jump on the RoR bandwagon—from the basics of Ruby programming to advanced techniques for experienced Rails developers.

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The Ruby Way, Second Edition: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby Programming (2nd Edition) Review

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The Ruby Way, Second Edition: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby Programming (2nd Edition) ReviewPeople in the Ruby development community know me because I started several of the most popular open source Ruby projects (I have been active in Ruby since 2001). If you are serious programming in Ruby then there are two must-have books to keep within reach as you program: Dave Thomas' Programming Ruby; and this book: Hal Fulton's The Ruby Way.
This is really two books in the guise of one. One the surface, The Ruby Way appears to be a cookbook of Ruby recipes, and a very thorough one at that. But The Ruby Way also manages to capture the gestalt of Ruby, that intangible, indefinable philosophy behind the Ruby idioms that old-timers now take for granted.
Every programming language has its own "way" of doing things. You don't want to write Java code in Ruby, or VB code in Ruby, you should be writing *real* Ruby code. If you want to see Ruby code the way it was "meant" to be written, this is your book.
The Ruby Way, Second Edition: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby Programming (2nd Edition) OverviewRuby is an agile object-oriented language, borrowing some of the best features from LISP, Smalltalk, Perl, CLU, and other languages. Its popularity has grown tremendously in the five years since the first edition of this book.The Ruby Way takes a "how-to" approach to Ruby programming with the bulk of the material consisting of more than 400 examples arranged by topic. Each example answers the question "How do I do this in Ruby?" Working along with the author, you are presented with the task description and a discussion of the technical constraints. This is followed by a step-by-step presentation of one good solution. Along the way, the author provides detailed commentary and explanations to aid your understanding.Coverage includes• An overview of Ruby, explaining terminology and basic principles• Operations on low-level data types (numbers, strings, regular expressions, dates)• The new regular expression engine (Oniguruma)• Internationalization (I18N) and message catalogs in Ruby• Operations on hashes, arrays, and other data structures such as stacks, trees, and graphs• Working with general I/O, files, and persistent objects• Database coverage including MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, DBI, and more• Ruby-specific techniques in OOP and dynamic programming• Graphical interfaces in Ruby (Tk, GTK+, Fox, and Qt)• Working with Ruby threads for lightweight multitasking• Everyday scripting and system administration in Ruby• Working with image files, PDFs, YAML, XML, RSS, and Atom• Testing, debugging, profiling, and packaging Ruby code• Low-level network programming and client-server interaction• Web development tools including Rails, Nitro, Wee, IOWA, and more• Working with distributed Ruby, Rinda, and Ring• Ruby development tools such as IDEs, documentation tools, and moreThe source code for the book can be downloaded from www.rubyhacker.comHal Fulton has worked for over 15 years with variousforms of Unix, including AIX, Solaris, and Linux. He was first exposed to Ruby in 1999, and in 2001 he began work on the first edition of this book–the second Ruby book published in the English language. He has attendednumerous Ruby conferences and has given presentations at several of those, including the first European Ruby Conference. He has two degrees in computer science from the University of Mississippi and taught computer science for four years before moving to Austin, Texas to work as a contractor for variouscompanies, including IBM Austin. Hal currently works at Broadwing Communications in Austin, Texas, maintaining a large data warehouse and related telecom applications, working daily with C++, Oracle, and, of course, Ruby.

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Python Web Development with Django Review

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Python Web Development with Django ReviewWe are a Python shop at work and have recently started developing in Django. So I picked this book up as a total beginner to Django, but an experienced Python programmer. I feel that the book would be more or less the same even for someone totally new to Python, because Django is definitely a different kind of beast.
Overall, this book was okay to good. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. It is definitely targeted at beginners to Django (and possibly Python). As a Django beginner, I first ran through the tutorial on the Django website, because it is very thorough and good. I definitely recommend that as a starting place regardless of which book you end up buying. Then I cracked open this book. The first chapter is a 50-page introduction to Python, so I skipped that. Chapter 2 is a tutorial in which you build a simple blog. So by the time I had finished that chapter, I had built two different Django sites but not really read anything about the language or framework or theory thereof. I think this is a good thing, and this chapter is well-placed. Chapter 3 introduces Django. It covers dynamic web sites, communication, data storage, presentation, separating the layers (MVC), general django architecture, and "core philosophies of Django". It is a decent introduction, though I read through it quickly so I could get to the next three chapters.
The next three chapters make up the Django in Depth section and are the bread-and-butter of the book. The first chapter covers models, the second URLs/HTTP/views, and the third templates and form processing. For me, these were the chapters I was most looking forward to, where I would learn everything I needed to know to get started really understanding. And they let me down a bit. Each one was good in what it covered, but the problem was that it left out quite a bit. The part on the models themselves was pretty good and covered the necessities. But the part on querying was a little sparse. They left much for the reader to go to the documentation and find out. (But what's the point of the book, then?) I did think it was nice that they mentioned fixtures, as I had trouble finding that information online when I needed to set one up for work. The chapter on views was decent, but seemed to leave out too much detail. The section covering views specifically was short. Finally, the template/forms chapter again left the reader to find out critical details in the online documentation. First, the template section was short. Second, the forms section seemed long enough, but I just found that it wasn't that helpful when I was really creating forms for work.
The next four chapters are tutorials in which you build various applications. I haven't gone through these yet, but they look pretty good. I think Django is one of those things that is best learned in a very hands-on fashion. Perhaps some of the weaknesses of the previous three chapters are made up for here; but I doubt it, and if so feel that information should have still been included in the earlier chapters. (The book is fairly slim and could definitely be expanded.) Chapter 11 covers advanced Django programming, including customizing the admin, using syndication, generating downloadable files, enhancing Django's ORM with custom managers, and extending the template system. The chapter seems decent enough, although I haven't had to do any of these things yet. Likewise, with Chapter 12 covering advanced Django deployment, I haven't had to deploy anything yet so I only know that the chapter seems to cover some useful information.Python Web Development with Django OverviewUsing the simple, robust, Python-based Django framework, you can build powerful Web solutions with remarkably few lines of code. In Python Web Development with Django®, three experienced Django and Python developers cover all the techniques, tools, and concepts you need to make the most of Django 1.0, including all the major features of the new release. The authors teach Django through in-depth explanations, plus provide extensive sample code supported with images and line-by-line explanations. You'll discover how Django leverages Python's development speed and flexibility to help you solve a wide spectrum of Web development problems and learn Django best practices covered nowhere else. You'll build your first Django application in just minutes and deepen your real-world skills through start-to-finish application projects includingSimple Web log (blog) Online photo gallery Simple content management system Ajax-powered live blogger Online source code sharing/syntax highlighting tool How to run your Django applications on the Google App EngineThis complete guide starts by introducing Python, Django, and Web development concepts, then dives into the Django framework, providing a deep understanding of its major components (models, views, templates), and how they come together to form complete Web applications. After a discussion of four independent working Django applications, coverage turns to advanced topics, such as caching, extending the template system, syndication, admin customization, and testing. Valuable reference appendices cover using the command-line, installing and configuring Django, development tools, exploring existing Django applications, the Google App Engine, and how to get more involved with the Django community.Introduction 1Part I: Getting StartedChapter 1: Practical Python for Django 7Chapter 2: Django for the Impatient: Building a Blog 57Chapter 3: Starting Out 77Part II: Django in DepthChapter 4: Defining and Using Models 89Chapter 5: URLs, HTTP Mechanisms, and Views 117Chapter 6: Templates and Form Processing 135Part III: Django Applications by ExampleChapter 7: Photo Gallery 159Chapter 8: Content Management System 181Chapter 9: Liveblog 205Chapter 10: Pastebin 221Part IV: Advanced Django Techniques and FeaturesChapter 11: Advanced Django Programming 235Chapter 12: Advanced Django Deployment 261Part V: AppendicesAppendix A: Command Line Basics 285Appendix B: Installing and Running Django 295Appendix C: Tools for Practical Django Development 313Appendix D: Finding, Evaluating, and Using Django Applications 321Appendix E: Django on the Google App Engine 325Appendix F: Getting Involved in the Django Project 337Index 339Colophon 375

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Ruby Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) Review

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Ruby Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) ReviewI have a confession to make. Over more than twenty years as a programmer I'd never really had my head around object-oriented programming. I started out using C and then tried PHP and Perl and treated both as purely procedural languages (indeed, one Perl guru looked at my code and said "you were a C programmer weren't you"; humbling). Java, JavaScript, C++ and even Objective C had their turn at getting me to convert but none took (though I do code JavaScript under sufferance) until Ruby. A few month ago I started using Rails and became hooked on it and the underlying language. My Rails and Ruby skills have progressed in leaps and bounds. I've already had a good read of "Programming Ruby" and "Agile Web Development with Rails" and enjoyed and learnt from both.
I also have to admit to loving the O'Reilly "Cookbook" series. Several, particularly the "Perl Cookbook", have pride of place on the bookshelf closest to my computer. So the "Ruby Cookbook" by Lucas Carlson and Leonard Richardson was eagerly awaited. The "Cookbook" series are designed to provide you with a plethora of code examples to guide you in writing your own code. I'm definitely a hands-on style of learner and the Cookbook series suits my style - I can start getting my hands dirty with complex problems knowing I have help to code my way of out of the tight spots. This one covers a wide range of tasks from simple, such as walking a directory tree or manipulating text and numbers, through to more complex such as working with AJAX in Ruby on Rails. If you have't previously come across a book in this style then each chapter is broken up into a number of 'recipes' with a problem, a solution and then discussion of the solution.
This sort of book lives and dies by two criteria - the quality of the code and the usefulness of the recipe selection. "Ruby Cookbook" wins on both. The topics covered are wide and leave little, if any, part of the language unexplained. They start with data and structures such as strings and hashes before moving on to code blocks, objects, classes and modules. There is then an intriguing chapter on reflection and metaprogramming that I am still puzzling through before the book moves on to more internet based topics such as XML, HTML, web and internet services and, of course, Rails. The book then proceeds with chapters on the necessary housekeeping of development such as testing, packaging and automating tasks with Rake before finishing with extending Ruby with other languages and system administration tasks. The code is well written; clear and well commented, easily understandable by a virtual newb like me. The discussion is fairly clear, seemingly concise while allowing you to understand the code and how it might be changed for particular purposes.
I'm not going to go into more details as to the contents but instead point you to the book's page at O'Reilly which includes a link to the contents, listnig all the recipes in the book, and two example chapters; Chapter 7 on code blocks and iteration and Chapter 15 devoted to Rails. Together they will give you a good feel for the style and contents of the book.
The book is well written and well edited. I've already tried over a dozen of the recipes and haven't found a single code error, so my faith in the other 300 or so has risen considerably. The discussion that accompanies each recipe is a marvelous way of learning just that little bit more about the language. I found them quite good, though the odd one could do with further explanation if the book is to stand on its own - for example the discussion accompanying the recipe to iterate over a hash was not perfectly clear on the difference between Hash#each and Hash#each_pair.
At more than 800 pages this is a large and extensive volume, though the price may make you wince. Usually programming books this large have at least part of their size dedicated to something I refer to as pseudo-padding, some sort of reference or simple language explanation - this one has neither, all of it is devoted to the recipes.
With Ruby use, thanks in no part to the popularity of Rails, growing by leaps and bounds I'm sure this volume will be a well deserved bestseller. I give it four stars and recommend it to all but the most expert Ruby programmers. For beginners who, like me, appreciate hands on learning it is a must.Ruby Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) Overview
Do you want to push Ruby to its limits? The Ruby Cookbook is the most comprehensive problem-solving guide to today's hottest programming language. It gives you hundreds of solutions to real-world problems, with clear explanations and thousands of lines of code you can use in your own projects.

From data structures and algorithms, to integration with cutting-edge technologies, the Ruby Cookbook has something for every programmer. Beginners and advanced Rubyists alike will learn how to program with:

Strings and numbers
Arrays and hashes
Classes, modules, and namespaces
Reflection and metaprogramming
XML and HTML processing
Ruby on Rails (including Ajax integration)
Databases
Graphics
Internet services like email, SSH, and BitTorrent
Web services
Multitasking
Graphical and terminal interfaces

If you need to write a web application, this book shows you how to get started with Rails. If you're a system administrator who needs to rename thousands of files, you'll see how to use Ruby for this and other everyday tasks. You'll learn how to read and write Excel spreadsheets, classify text with Bayesian filters, and create PDF files. We've even included a few silly tricks that were too cool to leave out, like how to blink the lights on your keyboard.

The Ruby Cookbook is the most useful book yet written about Ruby. When you need to solve a problem, don't reinvent the wheel: look it up in the Cookbook.


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