Posted At Wed, Apr 26, 2023 2:02 AM

Ruby on Rails: A Comprehensive Guide to Building Web Applications

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Part 1: Introduction and Setup

If you're looking to develop web applications, Ruby on Rails (often simply called Rails) is a popular framework to consider. Rails is an open-source web framework written in the Ruby programming language, which emphasizes convention over configuration and follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern.

In this article, we'll go through the basics of setting up a Ruby on Rails development environment and building a simple application. By the end of this article, you'll have a good understanding of how Rails works and be ready to build your own applications using this powerful framework.

Step 1: Install Ruby and Rails

Before you start building Rails applications, you need to make sure that you have Ruby and Rails installed on your computer. Ruby can be installed on various platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Rails, on the other hand, is a gem (a package of code) that can be installed on top of Ruby.

The easiest way to install Ruby and Rails is by using a version manager like RVM (Ruby Version Manager) or rbenv. These tools allow you to easily switch between different versions of Ruby and Rails, depending on the requirements of your project.

To install RVM, open up your terminal and type the following command:

\curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable

After the installation process is complete, close and reopen your terminal to reload your shell configuration. You can then install the latest version of Ruby and Rails by running the following commands:

rvm install ruby --default
gem install rails

This will install the latest version of Ruby and Rails on your computer.

Step 2: Create a new Rails application

Once you have installed Ruby and Rails, you can create a new Rails application using the rails new command. This command will generate a new Rails project with a basic directory structure and preconfigured settings. Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to create your Rails application. Then, run the following command:

rails new myapp

This will create a new Rails application named "myapp" in the current directory.

Step 3: Start the Rails server

Now that you have created a new Rails application, you can start the Rails server to see it in action. Navigate to your project directory and run the following command:

cd myapp
rails server

This will start the Rails server and make your application available at http://localhost:3000. Open your web browser and navigate to this URL to see your new Rails application running!

In the next part of this article, we'll dive deeper into the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern and create our first controller and view. Stay tuned for part 2!

Part 2: Working with Controllers and Models

In this part, we'll dive deeper into the controllers and models of your Ruby on Rails application.

Controllers

Controllers are responsible for receiving requests from the browser, interpreting the request parameters, and returning the correct response to the browser. In a typical Rails application, controllers will interact with models to retrieve and store data.

Let's create a new controller to handle the posts resource. From the command line, run the following:

$ rails generate controller Posts

This will generate a new controller file at app/controllers/posts_controller.rb. Open up the file and you'll see a skeleton controller class:

class PostsController < ApplicationController
  def index
  end
end

The index method is the default action for this controller. Let's add a few more actions:

class PostsController < ApplicationController
  def index
  end

  def show
  end

  def new
  end

  def create
  end

  def edit
  end

  def update
  end

  def destroy
  end
end

Each of these actions corresponds to a different HTTP verb and URL. For example, the index action handles a GET request to the /posts URL.

Models

Models are responsible for managing the data of the application. In Rails, models are typically implemented using the ActiveRecord library, which provides an object-relational mapping (ORM) between the application and the database.

Let's create a new model to represent our posts resource. From the command line, run the following:

$ rails generate model Post title:string body:text

This will generate a new model file at app/models/post.rb. Open up the file and you'll see a skeleton model class:

class Post < ApplicationRecord
end

The ApplicationRecord class is a base class provided by Rails that provides common functionality to all models in your application.

Let's add a few validations to the Post model:

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  validates :title, presence: true
  validates :body, presence: true
end

These validations will ensure that a Post object cannot be saved to the database without both a title and a body.

Conclusion

In this part, we covered controllers and models in Ruby on Rails. We created a new controller to handle the posts resource and added a few actions to it. We also created a new model to represent our posts resource and added some validations to it.

Stay tuned for the final part, where we'll cover views and templates!

Part 3: Views and Templates

In the final part of this Ruby on Rails tutorial, we'll discuss views and templates.

Views

Views are responsible for rendering the response to the browser. In a Rails application, views are typically implemented using Embedded Ruby (ERb) templates, which allow you to embed Ruby code into your HTML.

Let's create a new view to display a list of all posts. In the app/views/posts/ directory, create a new file called index.html.erb:

<h1>Posts</h1>
<ul>
  <% @posts.each do |post| %>
    <li><%= link_to post.title, post %></li>
  <% end %>
</ul>

This view will display a list of all posts, with each post title linking to its show page.

Templates

Templates are used to generate the layout of your application. In a Rails application, templates are typically implemented using the Layout and Rendering system.

Let's create a new template for our application layout. In the app/views/layouts/ directory, create a new file called application.html.erb:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Devslearn.com</title>
  <%= csrf_meta_tags %>
  <%= csp_meta_tag %>
  <%= stylesheet_link_tag 'application', media: 'all', 'data-turbolinks-track': 'reload' %>
  <%= javascript_pack_tag 'application', 'data-turbolinks-track': 'reload' %>
</head>
<body>
  <%= yield %>
</body>
</html>

This template sets up the basic layout for our application, including the HTML structure, the title tag, and links to our application's stylesheets and JavaScript files. The <%= yield %> tag will be replaced with the contents of the current view.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the basics of building a Ruby on Rails application. We learned about the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, created controllers and models, and built views and templates to render the application to the browser.

By now, you should have a good understanding of how to build a simple Rails application. Keep learning and exploring the vast possibilities that Ruby on Rails has to offer on Devslearn.com!

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Author

Fahri Farih Kusuma

"I'm a full-stack developer, entrepreneur and owner of Sido Subur. I'm a big fan of PHP, Laravel, React, NextJS, Angular, Vue, Node, Javascript, JQuery, Codeigniter, Tailwind, and Bootstrap from the early stage. I believe in Hardworking and Consistency."

Category Ruby

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Ruby on Rails: A Comprehensive Guide to Building Web Applications

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