Ruby and Rails Most Popular Stories

Rails Envy Podcast - Episode #053: 10/29/08

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:21:51 +0000

[via http://www.railsenvy.com/ @ October 29, 2008 @ 4:21pm]

Episode 134: Paperclip

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Need to add image attachments to a model? See how with paperclip in this episode. [via http://railscasts.com/ @ November 3, 2008 @ 8:00am]

3 Tools for DRYing Your Ruby Code

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:03:01 +0000

We've all heard the admonitions: "Don't Repeat Yourself!" But how do you avoid this if you're working on a Ruby codebase that stretches to thousands of lines, maintained by multiple developers? One answer is to run a tool that looks for duplicate code. This is an area where good tools are tantalizingly close - there are at least three out there that are worth checking out:

Towelie

The first contender is Giles Bowkett's Towelie, which uses parsetree and ruby2ruby to look through a…

[via http://www.rubyinside.com/ @ November 7, 2008 @ 9:03pm]

Repost: Rails Envy Podcast - Episode #053

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:17:07 +0000

[via http://www.railsenvy.com/ @ October 31, 2008 @ 3:17am]

90. fields_for and the index option in Rails

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:12:50 +0000

In this episode you learn how to use fields_for and the index option to create a new parent model with multiple child models on one post.

This tip will simplify your code in the controller. Based on the blog post by params ful #3 and #5 by Stephen Chu.

[via http://www.rubyplus.org/ @ July 5, 2008 @ 2:12am]

ANSI

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:17:29 +0000

Use ANSI codes in printed output, including colors and controlling the cursor, clearing the line, and clearing the screen

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 14, 2008 @ 7:17am]

PeepCode is [No Longer] Looking to Hire a Virtual Assistant

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:24:23 +0000

UPDATE Thanks for the 40 replies right away! We’ll read through them and reply soon. Thanks!

PeepCode is hiring! I interviewed two part-time editors last week and am now looking for a virtual office assistant. I’m offering $18/hour to start for 2-3 days a week. This will probably turn into a full-time position with increased pay and benefits within the next few months.

This is a non-programming position. Duties include:

Internet research
Customer service
Promotion via email and web
Data entry
Various other creative tasks

Preferred skills are:

Ability to use the web and email
Familiarity with a Macintosh
Willingness to learn new things
Regular communication with Topfunky headquarters
Ownership of a business license (sole proprietor is OK, we can help you fill out the paperwork if you don’t have one already)

None of these tasks are time-sensitive, so you can work from home at whatever time of day (or week) is best for you. Send your resume via email to peepcode@topfunky.com with VA in the subject.

Dublin

Figure A Dublin from my hotel window

I had a great time in Dublin at the end of June. I spoke at an open source conference and met several other Rubyists while I was there.

I’ve frequently felt that I should bring home some tchotchke from each of the places I visit. While in Dublin I realized that it’s not extra things that I really want, it’s people!

If you’re traveling for business or pleasure, I highly suggest that you find the local Ruby group or find a local co-working space and meet people there. I had breakfast with Ana Nelson, who introduced me to Paul Campbell of Contrast, who is working on an error reporting webapp for Rails developers.

He introduced me to Eamon Leonard and David Coallier who happen to be a few musically inclined PHP developers. We had a great time exploring the pubs of Dublin, and I learned that Guinness beer has a different taste in Dublin than anywhere else in the world.

Oh, and a few members of Ruby Ireland hosted a nice dinner in the city.

So the next time you find yourself in an unknown city, meet the locals!

Figure B Dublin alley

Figure C Clocks at the Contrast co-working space

Figure D Ruby Ireland meetup

Elsewhere

I just published a new PeepCode screencast about Phusion Passenger (technical editing by Phusion staff).

I’ll be speaking about podcasting and entrepreneurship at BizJam Seattle on Wednesday, July 9.

Jim Freeze wanted me to mention that the Lone Star Ruby Conference is open for registration. I’ll be at RailsConf in Berlin at that time, but I’m sure it will be a great conference if you can get yourself to Texas. I frequently post other worldwide conference and workshop events at Ruby on Rails Workshops.

Also, I’ve helped to launch a Deck-like ad network for Ruby blogs. We have several top quality publishers and have a few spots for advertisers. If you have a product, website, or service that would be of interest to Rubyists, check out Ruby Row.

PeepCode Screencasts – Learn Ruby on Rails and Javascript! Hour-long screencasts for $9. [via http://nubyonrails.com/ @ July 7, 2008 @ 10:24pm]

ignore_nil

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:08:14 +0000

ignore_nil lets you happily ignore nil method errors on long method chains.

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 14, 2008 @ 7:08am]

redpill_httperf_recorder

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:32:23 +0000

Record requests in httperf format.

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 6, 2008 @ 12:32pm]

Forgery

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:47:25 +0000

Easy and customizable generation of forged data.

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 12, 2008 @ 9:47pm]

Ruby Developers For Hire

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:30:46 +0000

[via http://www.railsenvy.com/ @ October 27, 2008 @ 7:30pm]

Episode 133: Capistrano Tasks

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Do you know how to make Capistrano tasks? See how to change default deployment behavior with custom tasks in this episode. [via http://railscasts.com/ @ October 27, 2008 @ 7:00am]

Cucumber: The Latest in Ruby Testing

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:35:20 +0000

Testing is a firmly ingrained part of the Ruby culture: you probably ran across Test::Unit not long after you first started writing Ruby code (though it wouldn't be surprising if you ignored it for a while). But it hasn't been a static part of Ruby - we've seen the simple availability of tests evolve into test-driven development (TDD) that in turn gave rise to behavior-driven development (BDD). Along the way, Ruby has spawned a variety of testing tools and frameworks. The latest,…

[via http://www.rubyinside.com/ @ November 19, 2008 @ 7:35pm]

Rails Envy Podcast - Episode #055: 11/12/2008

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:18:01 +0000

[via http://www.railsenvy.com/ @ November 13, 2008 @ 3:18am]

SanitizeEmail

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:43:02 +0000

SanitizeEmail allows you to play with your application's email abilities without worrying that emails will get sent to actual live addresses.

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 6, 2008 @ 3:43am]

IOTC Open Source Conference in Dublin

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:30:23 +0000

I truly feel that I have the coolest job in the world.

Two weeks ago, I was asked to speak at the IOTC Conference in Dublin on June 18-20. Not only that, but they will be streaming live video of the event as it happens!

Few conferences record even the audio of their lectures, so I’m not sure how they managed to pull this off. They must be using some of this new open source software that everyone is talking about!

They tell me that you’ll be able to view it via a link that will be posted here, next Thursday at 10:25am Dublin time.

I’ll also be hanging out with members of Ruby Ireland in Dublin on Thursday night.

Then I’ll be hurrying back home to be with my son, who aspires to be the next mini me.

At PeepCode

The ever diligent Ryan Daigle has updated our Rails 2 PDF for Rails 2.1. If you purchased the first copy, you can login or revisit the link originally sent to you for the free update.

If not, now is a great time to buy a copy!

And then…

Also, I just bought by plane ticket for RubyFringe where I’ll attempt to resolve my degree in Philosophy with my current career in computer programming. There are definitely some interesting talks scheduled!

PeepCode Screencasts – Learn Ruby on Rails and Javascript! Hour-long screencasts for $9. [via http://nubyonrails.com/ @ June 12, 2008 @ 2:30am]

87. Introduction to jQuery

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:02:08 +0000

In this episode I walk you through a hello world example in jQuery and autocomplete functionality that does not make a server side call.

[via http://www.rubyplus.org/ @ June 25, 2008 @ 6:02am]

BrowserWar

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:10:56 +0000

BrowserWar will help you to fight off evil browsers that access your website. It allows you to display custom messages to any browser/version combinations you want.

[via http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins @ November 11, 2008 @ 10:10pm]

Ruby Best Practices: The Book and Interview with Gregory Brown

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:42:45 +0000

Back in March, Ruby developer Gregory Brown raised the idea of receiving donations so he could work on open source Ruby projects full-time. It went well, and out of this project came Prawn, a pure Ruby PDF generation library. Not one to rest on his laurels, Gregory's now working on a book for O'Reilly called Ruby Best Practices, billed as "for programmers who want to use Ruby the way Rubyists do." The book will cover how to design "beautiful" APIs and…

[via http://www.rubyinside.com/ @ November 14, 2008 @ 3:42pm]

Ruby and Shoes Programming: A New Course

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:03:11 +0000

Let’s Enjoy Ruby and Shoes Programming! RL has been conducting online Ruby programming courses that has had over 5500 participants spread across 140+ countries. This has been possible due to the extensive support provided by the mentors and assistant teachers of these courses. RL strives hard to improve the methodology and course content based on the [...] [via http://rubylearning.com/ @ October 31, 2008 @ 8:03am]

Roxy - An Object Proxying Library for Ruby

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:10:46 +0000

When you want your objects to refer to / have associations with other objects, it can quickly become a complex procedure. Ryan Daigle to the rescue! Ryan has built Roxy, a "Ruby Proxy-Object Library." He's also put together an awesome blog post with the motivation for developing Roxy and some code examples showing how it works. Roxy gives you the ability to add some rather ActiveRecord-esque functionality to your classes and their instances.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

[via http://www.rubyinside.com/ @ November 13, 2008 @ 5:10pm]

Rails flash messages helper

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:55:58 +0000

in your view:

display_flash(:error) # to display a specific flash message
display_flash # to display all flash messages



# Methods added to this helper will be available to all templates in the application.

module ApplicationHelper

  

  FLASH_TYPES = [:error, :warning, :success, :message]



  def display_flash(type = nil)

    html = ""

    

    if type.nil?

      FLASH_TYPES.each { |name| html << display_flash(name) }

    else

      return flash[type].blank? ? "" : "#{flash[type]}"

    end

    

    html

  end

  

end

[via http://snippets.dzone.com/tag/rails @ November 7, 2008 @ 1:55pm]