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Creating Long-Lived Web Apps with Ruby on Rails

Gain insights into maintaining complex Rails apps with consistency and sustainability. Learn about separating business logic, applying pragmatic techniques, and effective testing for long-lived, maintainable projects.

Intermediate

170 Lessons

75h

Certificate of Completion

AI-POWERED

Explanations

AI-POWERED

Explanations

This course includes

56 Playgrounds

22 Quizzes

Course Overview

What You'll Learn

Course Content

Recommendations

Course Overview

Ruby on Rails is a server-side web development framework. Are you an experienced Rails developer but struggle with managing the complexity your Rails apps acquire over time? You don’t need gems or complicated design patterns; you just need to focus on consistency, sustainability, and the best parts of Rails. In this course, you’ll learn straightforward techniques to apply to each Rails part, from routes to views to controllers to Active Records. You’ll learn to put business logic in separate Ruby classes t...Show More

Ruby on Rails is a server-side web development framework. Are you an experienced Rails developer but struggle with managing the ...Show More

What You'll Learn

The ability to follow steps for creating a reliable and consistent database schema for Rails

Familiarity with managing code in each part of Rails: routes, controllers, views, Active Records, jobs, and more

Working knowledge of a pragmatic strategy that ensures quality without overtesting

Familiarity with techniques for managing business logic in a Rails app without complicated patterns or gems

An understanding of the core principles of sustainable web app development

The ability to follow steps for creating a reliable and consistent database schema for Rails

Course Content

Prologue

1 Lessons

Get familiar with sustainable Ruby on Rails app development, best practices, and architecture.

Introduction to Course

Getting Started

3 Lessons

Look at sustainable practices, assumptions, and cost management in Ruby on Rails development.

Introduction to Sustainability

Assumptions

Opportunity and Carrying Costs

The Rails Application Architecture

5 Lessons

Work your way through Rails architecture, views, models, pros and cons, and conventions.

Architecture of Our Rails Application and Its Boundaries

Views and Models

Pros and Cons of the Rails Application Architecture

Typographic Conventions

Quiz: The Rails Application Architecture

Start Our App Off Right

8 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of creating, configuring, running, and maintaining a Rails application.

Creating a Rails App

Using the Environment for Runtime Configuration

Configuring Local Development Environment with dotenv

Automating Application Setup with the bin/setup Command

Running the Application with the bin/run Command

Putting Tests and Other Quality Checks in the bin/ci command

Improving Production Logging with lograge

Quiz: Start Our App Off Right

Business Logic

6 Lessons

Solve problems in managing business logic complexity to ensure sustainable, stable web apps.

Business Logic Makes Our App Special and Complex

Business Logic Is a Magnet for Complexity

Bugs in Commonly-Used Classes Have Wide Effects

Business Logic and Complexity in Critical Classes

Example Design of a Feature

Quiz: Business Logic

Routes and URLs

8 Lessons

Investigate routing best practices, avoid unused configurations, utilize nested routes, and maintain clear URL structures in Rails.

Use Canonical Routes to Conform Rails’ Defaults

Never Configure Routes That Aren’t Being Used

Vanity URLs Should Redirect to a Canonical Route

Don’t Create Custom Actions, Create More Resources

Use Nested Routes Strategically

Namespacing Might Be an Architecture

Nested Routes Can Organize Content Pages

Quiz: Routes and URLs

HTML Templates

7 Lessons

Master the steps to create structured, maintainable Rails views using semantic HTML, instance variables, and ERB.

Semantic HTML and Views Using Meaningful Tags

Tags for Styling

Exposure of Variables

Reference Data, Global Context, and UI State Are Exceptions

Reusable Components

Just Use ERB

Quiz: HTML Templates

Helpers

8 Lessons

Learn how to use helpers effectively for UI, view models, testing, and secure markup.

Don’t Conflate Helpers with the Domain

Helpers Are Best at Exposing Global UI State

Define Helpers in As Few Locations as Possible

Presenters, Decorators, and View Models

Problems With Presenters

Use Rails’ APIs to Generate Markup

Helpers Should Be Tested and Testable

Quiz: Helpers

CSS

7 Lessons

Unpack the core of effective CSS management strategies, frameworks, and design systems for Rails applications.

Adopt a Design System

Create a Living Style Guide to Document Our Design System

Quiz: CSS

10.

Minimize JavaScript

5 Lessons

Break apart JavaScript's challenges and embrace server-rendered Rails views for simpler web apps.

Javascript Is a Serious Liability

Embrace Server-Rendered Rails Views

The Architecture of the Jamstack

Tweak Turbo to Provide a Slightly Better Experience

Quiz: Minimizing JavaScript

11.

Carefully Manage the JavaScript We Need

3 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of JavaScript management, framework selection, and effective testing in Rails apps.

Embrace Plain JavasScript for Basic Interactions

Carefully Choose One Framework

Ensure System Tests Fail When JavaScript Is Broken

12.

Testing the View

9 Lessons

Dig into strategies for effective and maintainable view testing in Ruby on Rails.

Understand the Value and Cost of Tests

Use :rack_test for Non-JavaScript User Flows

Test Against Default Markup and Content Initially

Cultivate Explicit Diagnostic Tools to Debug Test Failures

Fake the Back-End to Get System Tests Passing

Use data-testid Attributes to Combat Brittle Tests

Test JavaScript Interactions with a Real Browser

Writing a Browser-Driven System Test Case

Quiz: Testing the View

13.

Models I

7 Lessons

Simplify database access and modeling with Active Record and class/instance methods.

Active Record Is for Database Access

Creating Some Example Active Records

Model the Database with Active Record’s DSL

Database Operations with Class Methods

Instance Methods Should Implement Domain Concepts from the DB

Active Model Is for Resource Modeling

Quiz: Models I

14.

The Database

10 Lessons

Master the steps to plan and implement robust data models, migrations, and database constraints.

Logical and Physical Data Models

Create a Logical Model to Build Consensus

Planning the Physical Model to Enforce Correctness

Use a SQL Schema

Planning the Physical Model

Creating Correct Migrations

Creating the Migration File and Helper Scripts

Iteratively Writing Migration Code to Create the Correct Schema

Writing Tests for Database Constraints

Quiz: The Database

15.

Business Logic Code is a Seam

5 Lessons

Learn how to use stateless classes, explicit methods, rich result objects, and avoid certain patterns.

Business Logic Code Must Reveal Behavior

Explicitly-Named Classes with Explicitly-Named Methods

Return Rich Result Objects, Not Booleans or Active Records

Implementation Patterns We Might Want to Avoid

Quiz: Business Logic Code Is a Seam

16.

Models II

6 Lessons

Unpack the core of validations, callbacks, model testing strategies, and using Factory Bot for reliable data.

Validations Don’t Provide Data Integrity

Validations Are Awesome for User Experience

How to Use Callbacks

Model Testing Strategies

Create Valid Instances of the Model Using Factory Bot

Quiz: Models II

17.

End-to-End Testing

13 Lessons

Master the steps to test end-to-end scenarios, build UI, and manage business logic.

Example Requirements

Building the UI First

Create Useful Seed Data for Development

Sketch the UI Using Semantic Tags

Provide Basic Polish

Style the Form

Style Error States

Writing a System Test

Sketch Business Logic and Define the Seam

Fully Implement and Test Business Logic

Finished Implementation

Reflecting on What We’ve Built

Quiz: End-to-End Testing

18.

Controllers

6 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of optimizing controller configurations, managing callbacks, and strategic testing in Rails.

Controller Code Is Configuration

Don’t Over-Use Callbacks

Controllers Should Convert Parameters to Richer Types

Don’t Over Test

Implementing a Basic Confidence-Checking System

Quiz: Controllers

19.

Jobs

8 Lessons

Map out the steps for managing and optimizing background jobs in Ruby on Rails apps.

Overview of the Jobs

Web Workers, Memory, and Network Calls

Background Jobs

Sidekiq Is the Best Job Backend for Most Teams

Queue Jobs Directly

Job Code and Testing Strategies

Jobs Must Be Idempotent

Quiz: Jobs

20.

Other Boundary Classes

6 Lessons

Investigate boundary classes like mailers, Rake tasks, Action Mailbox, Action Cable, and Active Storage.

Mailers

Rake Tasks

One Task Per File, Namespaces Match Directories

Rake Tasks Should Not Contain Business Logic

Mailboxes, Cables, and Active Storage

Quiz: Other Boundry Classes

21.

Authentication and Authorization beyond Rails

6 Lessons

Practice using Devise, OmniAuth, and CanCanCan for secure authentication and role-based access control.

When in Doubt, Use Devise or OmniAuth

Use OmniAuth to Authenticate Using a Third Party

Authorization and Role-Based Access Controls

Use CanCanCan to Implement Role-Based Access

Test Access Controls in System Tests

Quiz: Authentication and Authorization Beyond Rails

22.

API Endpoints

11 Lessons

Learn how to use Rails for effective, secure, and maintainable REST API development.

What and Who Our API Is for

Write APIs the Same Way We Write Other Code

Use the Simplest Authentication System

Use the Simplest Content Type We Can

Just Put the Version in the URL

Use .to_json to Create JSON

Customizing JSON Serialization

Customize JSON in the Models Themselves

Always Use a Top Level Key

Test API Endpoints

Quiz: API Endpoints

23.

Sustainable Process and Workflows

9 Lessons

Walk through sustainable CI practices, dependency management, automation, and efficient configuration in Rails applications.

Use Continuous Integration to Deploy

What is CI?

CI Should Be Based on bin/setup and bin/ci

Frequent Dependency Updates

A Versioning Policy

Automate Dependency Updates

Leverage Generators and Templates over Documentation

RubyGems and Railties Can Distribute Configuration

Quiz: Sustainable Processes and Workflows

24.

Operations

9 Lessons

Work your way through enhancing observability, effective logging, performance measurement, and secure secret management in Ruby on Rails.

Why Observability Matters

Monitor Business Outcomes

Logging Is Powerful

Include a Request ID in All Logs

Log What Something Is and Where It Came From

Manage Unhandled Exceptions

Measure Performance

Managing Secrets, Keys, and Passwords

Quiz: Operations

25.

Conclusion

1 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of effective code structuring and continuous learning in software development.

Final Remarks

26.

Appendices

3 Lessons

Map out the steps for software versions, Docker setup, and architecture decisions.

Software Versions and Sample Code

Setting Up Docker for Local Development

Monoliths, Microservices, and Shared Databases

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David Bryant Copeland

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