best recommended learning rails books resources
Last updated 23 April 2013
Top resources for Ruby and Rails. New to Rails? See What is Ruby on Rails?, the book Learn Ruby on Rails, and recommendations for a Rails tutorial.
| References | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Rails Guides | introduction and general reference | community-authored |
| Rails Documentation | official API docs | community-authored |
| Rails Searchable API Doc | alternative interface for the API docs | community-authored |
| apidock.com/rails | Rails API docs with usage notes | community-authored |
| apidock.com/ruby | Ruby API docs with usage notes | community-authored |
| Rails Beginner Cheat Sheet | useful reference | Tobias Pfeiffer |
| Installing Rails | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Installing Rails | detailed instructions and advice | Daniel Kehoe |
| Installing Rails | for Mac OS X, Ubuntu, or Windows | RailsBridge Workshops |
| Learning Ruby | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| RubyMonk | free browser-based interactive tutorial | C42 Engineering |
| Try Ruby | free browser-based interactive tutorial | Code School |
| Ruby Koans | free browser-based interactive exercises | Jim Weirich and Joe O’Brien |
| Ruby Kickstart | Six free videos | Josh Cheek |
| Learning Rails | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Rails Tutorials | recommendations to suit your skill level and learning style | RailsApps |
| Agile Web Development with Rails | ebook covers Rails 4.0 | Sam Ruby, Dave Thomas, and David Heinemeier Hansson |
| Rails 4 In Action | ebook covers Rails 4.0 | Yehuda Katz and Ryan Bigg |
| Ruby on Rails Tutorial | free ebook, covers Rails 3.2 | Michael Hartl |
| Testing | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday Rails Testing with RSpec | including Capybara and Factory Girl | Aaron Sumner |
| The RSpec Book | covers RSpec and Cucumber | David Chelimsky and others |
| The Cucumber Book | Matt Wynne and Aslak Hellesøy | |
| Cucumber Recipes | Ian Dees, Matt Wynne, Aslak Hellesoy | |
| The Secret Ninja Cucumber Scrolls | free introduction to Cucumber | David de Florinier and Gojko Adzic |
| Rails 3.2 Examples and Starter Apps | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Devise-RSpec-Cucumber | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| Bootstrap-Devise-CanCan | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| Prelaunch-Signup | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| Devise-Mongoid | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| OmniAuth-Mongoid | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| Subdomains with Devise and Mongoid | example code with a tutorial | Daniel Kehoe |
| for more, see a list |
| Ruby Gems | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| RubyGems.org | the source for Ruby gems | community-authored |
| The Ruby Toolbox | top gems categorized and ranked by popularity | Chris Olszowka |
| Gemnasium | find out when gems are updated | Tech-Angels |
| VersionEye | find out when gems are updated | VersionEye |
| Gemcanary | notifications of gem security updates | State Machinery |
| Rails Help | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Stack Overflow | answers to programming questions | community-authored |
| Rails Hotline | free telephone hotline for Rails questions | volunteers |
| Screencasts | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Railscasts | free with a new topic every Monday | Ryan Bates |
| PeepCode | priced starting at $12/screencast | Geoffrey Grosenbach |
| Podcasts | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| The Ruby Show | weekly podcast | Peter Cooper and Jason Seifer |
| Ruby5 | 5 minutes of news 2-3x/week | Envy Labs |
| Ruby Rogues | technical roundtable | various |
| Blogs (and lists of blogs) | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Riding Rails | official news | Rails maintainers |
| RubyFlow | daily reading suggestions | community-authored |
| A Fresh Cup | semi-daily reading suggestions | Mike Gunderloy |
| The Ruby Reflector | blog aggregator | community-authored |
| PlanetRubyOnRails | blog aggregator | community-authored |
| PlanetRubyOnRails List of Blogs | list of notable blogs | PlanetRubyOnRails |
| RubyCorner List of Blogs | 700+ blogs | RubyCorner |
| Newsletter | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby Weekly | email newsletter | Peter Cooper |
| Twitter Lists | Authors | |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby & Rails | sulia.com | |
| Ruby/Rails | Daniel Kehoe |