bmaland / kds_rails_ws

This repository contains material for the Maintainable Ruby on Rails workshop at Knowit Developer Summit 2013

Maintainable Ruby on Rails

This repository contains material for the Maintainable Ruby on Rails workshop at Knowit Developer Summit 2013. Presented by @bmaland and @edmellum.

Requirements

You'll need Ruby 1.9.3 or newer + git. If you don't have this already:

• Windows/Mac: Install Rails using RailsInstaller.
• Linux: Install Ruby 1.9.3 or newer using your package manager or RVM.

Also make sure that you have Rails 3.2.x installed by running gem install rails. Verify by running rails --version.

Resources

These are some excellent resources for tips/inspiration on using Rails and Rails engines. These will probably useful while you're working on the exercies. :-)

Rails specific

• Rails API docs
• Rails Tutorial

Engine specific

• Getting Started with Engines
• Rails::Engine API docs

Exercises

Form small teams, 2-3 people. Hopefully you'll be able to present something (code/UI/features/ideas) at the end of the workshop.

Up and running

Start by cloning the KDS Talks starter app: git clone git://github.com/bmaland/kds_talks.git.

Run the following steps:

cd kds_talks
bundle install
rake db:migrate
bundle exec rake kds:import_talks
bundle exec rails server

In theory you should now have a working Rails application running at http://localhost:3000. If not, shout out and we'll help you along.

Part 1 - Working with third party engines

While working with these engines, take note of which techniques they use for letting you customize their behaviour. Don't be afraid to look at the source code!

• Install devise for adding authentication/signup/etc to your application.
• Install active_admin for administration of the content in your application.

If you have more time before the break, consider adding a new feature to the application which requires signup. E.g. commenting or likes on the talks. You could also try out the kaminari engine for pagination.

Part 2 - Creating your own engines

Choose on of the following ideas, or do something entirely different if you got some good ideas!

• Create a simple engine for metrics. Use ActiveSupport::Notifications to listen on controller events and store them in the database. See the metrics engine hints for more input.
• Create a simple engine for adding a blog section.