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Product Description
Pro Active Record helps you take advantage of the full power of your database engine from within your Ruby programs and Rails applications. ActiveRecord, part of the magic that makes the Rails framework so powerful and easy to use, is the model element of Rails model/view/controller framework. Its an object-relational mapping library enabling you to interact with databases from both Ruby and Rails applications.
Because ActiveRecord is configured with default assumptions that mesh perfectly with the Rails framework, Rails developers often find they hardly need think about it at all. However, if you are developing in Ruby without Rails, or are deploying against legacy databases designed without Rails in mind, or you just want to take advantage of database-specific features such as large objects and stored procedures, you need the in-depth knowledge of ActiveRecord found in this book.
In Pro Active Record, authors Kevin Marshall, Chad Pytel, and Jon Yurek walk you through every step from the basics of getting and installing the ActiveRecord library to working with legacy schema to using features specific to each of todays most popular database engines, including Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL, and more! You’ll come to a deep understanding of ActiveRecord that will enable you to truly exploit all that Ruby, Rails, and your chosen database platform have to offer.
Table of Contents
- Introducing Active Record
- Active Record and SQL
- Setting Up Your Database
- Core Features of Active Record
- Bonus Features
- Active Record Testing and Debugging
- Working with Legacy Schema
- Active Record and the Real World
About the Author
Chad Pytel is president of thoughtbot, inc. a software development consulting firm that specializes in agile, test-driven web application development using the Ruby on Rails framework located in Boston, MA, and New York, NY. A firm believer in the Model-View-Controller design pattern and realistic software development, with a history in Java and EJB development, Chad strongly believes that Ruby and Ruby on Rails represents a new, exciting, and better way to develop software. Chad lives with his wife in Somerville, MA. When not at the office managing projects and writing code, Chad enjoys acting in and producing theater, film, and improv comedy. To follow along with Chad and the rest of the thoughtbot team's thoughts on business, design, development, and technology, visit their blog at giantrobots.thoughtbot.com.
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Amazon.com:
9 reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing and mis-titled
25 Oct 2007
Format:Paperback
Right at the start of Pro Active Record the authors address a possible problem some may have with it: that there's not enough in Active Record to warrant a full book. They point out that the basics are well covered as sections elsewhere but that this is the first book to really dig into working with legacy schema and other `advanced' uses. That's fair enough, but after reading the book I am still left with the question of why, then, they dedicate the first half to covering ActiveRecord's most basic concepts?
Judging from postings on the rails email list, there's certainly a lot of confusion about ActiveRecord, associations, observers, how to work with legacy table names and primary keys, and so on. But in a book with a title prefix of "Pro" I was expecting to jump straight into the nitty gritty of topics like compound/composite primary keys and performance tuning, probably with some real world examples, and maybe with a serious exploration of AR's internals. As it is, such topics only get a quick treatment in the final chapter (the compound/composite primary keys section is a paragraph referring users to a plugin).
It's almost always instructive reading other developers' code and it would be unfair to claim that I didn't spot a couple of tips that may prove useful, but they were passing things. And sometimes I found myself wondering what happened to the tech review process, particularly in the coverage of the has_one association, where not only is the variable naming confusing, but they seem to be calling the each method on a single ActiveRecord instance.
I'm left wondering what the audience is for this book. The title and blurbs suggest it's pitched at people who want to go deeper into ActiveRecord than they have before, but the content is better suited for someone with some database experience who wants to pick up ActiveRecord to write some scripts. As it is, if you've worked with ActiveRecord before your time will be better spent writing plugins and exploring the internals for yourself, and if you've not you'll get most of the same material from a decent Rails book and some time exploring.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for review by the publisher.
Judging from postings on the rails email list, there's certainly a lot of confusion about ActiveRecord, associations, observers, how to work with legacy table names and primary keys, and so on. But in a book with a title prefix of "Pro" I was expecting to jump straight into the nitty gritty of topics like compound/composite primary keys and performance tuning, probably with some real world examples, and maybe with a serious exploration of AR's internals. As it is, such topics only get a quick treatment in the final chapter (the compound/composite primary keys section is a paragraph referring users to a plugin).
It's almost always instructive reading other developers' code and it would be unfair to claim that I didn't spot a couple of tips that may prove useful, but they were passing things. And sometimes I found myself wondering what happened to the tech review process, particularly in the coverage of the has_one association, where not only is the variable naming confusing, but they seem to be calling the each method on a single ActiveRecord instance.
I'm left wondering what the audience is for this book. The title and blurbs suggest it's pitched at people who want to go deeper into ActiveRecord than they have before, but the content is better suited for someone with some database experience who wants to pick up ActiveRecord to write some scripts. As it is, if you've worked with ActiveRecord before your time will be better spent writing plugins and exploring the internals for yourself, and if you've not you'll get most of the same material from a decent Rails book and some time exploring.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for review by the publisher.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Good, but not so "pro".
12 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
Visuals:
Font size and layout are good. Easy on the eyes. Large and frequent sub-headings make it easier to locate information.
Audience:
The book lists it's intended "User level" at "Intermediate-Advanced".
Practicality:
It really depends on what you are expecting. I've been using Rails and ActiveRecord for about 2 years, so I should fit into the target audience. After reading the book I still think it will be a great reference book to have within arm's reach while working with ActiveRecord. To me it will serve as an API to AR. So it will be practical in that sense.
On the other hand, while reading it I never experienced any "aha!" moments where I felt like I learned something new or exciting, which I had hoped for from a "Pro" book.
If you are a beginner (never having used AR) it will definitely save you time (and eye strain) hunting down tutorials on blogs.
Overall:
It's a good Active Record reference & usage tutorial(s). I would have appreciated this book even more when I was first starting to use the Ruby on Rails framework. So if you are a beginner, don't let the "Intermediate - Advanced" user level scare you off. If you are using Rails, even as a beginner, you will probably be using Active Record too. In fact I think this book would probably be better named "Beginning Active Record" instead of "Pro Active Record".
I was kind of surprised when I read the Introduction to the book that it starts off with:
"Is there really enough to talk about in Active Record to fill a whole book?"
"Our answer, then and now, is, "Yes and no""
As an "Intermediate - Advanced" user, that's kind of how I felt at the end of this "Pro" book.
I give the book 4 stars, with the assumption that you go into it with the expectation of "Beginning Active Record".
Font size and layout are good. Easy on the eyes. Large and frequent sub-headings make it easier to locate information.
Audience:
The book lists it's intended "User level" at "Intermediate-Advanced".
Practicality:
It really depends on what you are expecting. I've been using Rails and ActiveRecord for about 2 years, so I should fit into the target audience. After reading the book I still think it will be a great reference book to have within arm's reach while working with ActiveRecord. To me it will serve as an API to AR. So it will be practical in that sense.
On the other hand, while reading it I never experienced any "aha!" moments where I felt like I learned something new or exciting, which I had hoped for from a "Pro" book.
If you are a beginner (never having used AR) it will definitely save you time (and eye strain) hunting down tutorials on blogs.
Overall:
It's a good Active Record reference & usage tutorial(s). I would have appreciated this book even more when I was first starting to use the Ruby on Rails framework. So if you are a beginner, don't let the "Intermediate - Advanced" user level scare you off. If you are using Rails, even as a beginner, you will probably be using Active Record too. In fact I think this book would probably be better named "Beginning Active Record" instead of "Pro Active Record".
I was kind of surprised when I read the Introduction to the book that it starts off with:
"Is there really enough to talk about in Active Record to fill a whole book?"
"Our answer, then and now, is, "Yes and no""
As an "Intermediate - Advanced" user, that's kind of how I felt at the end of this "Pro" book.
I give the book 4 stars, with the assumption that you go into it with the expectation of "Beginning Active Record".
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
The missing link in Rails Training
21 Sep 2007
Format:Paperback
ProActive Record fills a void in RoR texts. From some of the descriptions I was worried that the book would be too focused on using ActiveRecord without rails. My assumptions were unfounded.
By having basically unrestricted space to focus on one part of the MVC framework, the book is able to go into much deeper discussion about many of the topics on ActiveRecord covered only partially in previous Rails texts.
This book focuses on the practical instead of the abstract to its credit.
One chapter is devoted entirely to real world issues in a Q and A style that most every Rails developer will eventually face. It is more like participating in a lab rather than being preached to in a classroom.
Note while this book does not target total beginners it is extremely useful for someone who is past the newbie stage.
Highly recommended for the RoR professional.
By having basically unrestricted space to focus on one part of the MVC framework, the book is able to go into much deeper discussion about many of the topics on ActiveRecord covered only partially in previous Rails texts.
This book focuses on the practical instead of the abstract to its credit.
One chapter is devoted entirely to real world issues in a Q and A style that most every Rails developer will eventually face. It is more like participating in a lab rather than being preached to in a classroom.
Note while this book does not target total beginners it is extremely useful for someone who is past the newbie stage.
Highly recommended for the RoR professional.
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