Practical Rails Social Networking Sites (Expert's Voice) Review

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Practical Rails Social Networking Sites (Expert's Voice) ReviewThe is essentially a programming cook book with recipes centered on social networking functionality. That being said - this is not a "getting started on rails" book; you should have some idea of how to use rails (but you dont have to be an expert).
Here are some of the recipes: developing a CMS, blog with RSS, blog with web services, a forum, photo gallery (probably would have been better if this one had used Amazon's S3), adding tag functionality, creating a mobile version of your site, XFN, ...
Unless you're a broke student debating between this and food, I'd get this book. There are decent examples that are useful to see. It's pretty good considering Amazon's cheap price and considering this is the only book out on Rails related to social networking sites (as of when I wrote this review).
Update: I've now read the other Ruby on Rails Social Network Book: RailsSpace. In my opinion I would get both. However if you have to choose one it would depend both on your skill level and taste. Would you rather have more subjects covered with less material, or would you like less subjects being covered more in depth. If you want more subjects covered and you think you can figure out the extra details, then Practical Rails Social Networking Sites is for you.Practical Rails Social Networking Sites (Expert's Voice) OverviewThis book ties together the popular framework Ruby on Rails with another hot concept - social networking websites such as MySpace and FaceBook. Social networking is a kingpin of the Web 2.0 revolution sweeping the Internet right now. Due to its versatility, using Ruby on Rails to build and maintain social networking sites is the perfect partnership.This book will be one of the few project-based guides to Ruby on Rails - perfect for programmers that prefer the hands-on method of learning by example.

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Distributed Programming with Ruby Review

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Distributed Programming with Ruby ReviewThis book provides an excellent survey of distributed programming techniques using the Ruby platform. As a software engineer who is largely unfamiliar with Ruby, but very familiar with distributed programming, I was able to leverage the book both to understand "how you do things" in Ruby, as well as to introduce myself to the (libraries, framework tools, etc.) which make distributed programming a reality. My experience in reading this book was that it had a great flow, and a very clean presentation on the subject matter. I walked away with a deeper understanding of the Ruby language itself, as well as a mapping from "strategy/design concept" to "implementation toolkit" should I have a need to write a distributed service in Ruby. In summary, the book provides an excellent survey of both distributed concepts, as well as several options available on the Ruby platform for each, covering: DRb, Rinda, RingyDingy, Starfish, Distribunaut, Politics, Starling, working with Rabbit MQ, BackgrounDRb, and Delayed Job.
Much like the Ruby language itself, the text is very concise in explaining even fairly complicated concepts. It achieves this focus of delivery by building on fundamental concepts, providing a very simple starting point, and layering on additional "would like to" one at a time, without confusing the underlying intention. This pattern is present both at the micro level, as each chapter introduces a new distributed challenge and leaves you with a working knowledge of what the Ruby space has to offer for solutions implementations; as well as at the macro level, as the topics of each chapter progress from very simple things like remote procedure calls and data marshalling, to advanced topics such as an remote work processor, distributed work queue based on a map-reduce framework or a message queue service. While the phrase "map-reduce" is mentioned in several topic headings, there is no actual example of a problem solved with a map and reduce against a distributed dataset. The final topic, although not directly a distributed programming concept, is useful information for any production system that does any work of interest: a work scheduler using BackgrounDRb.
In a similar way, each chapter presents a very tiny example app, with complete code, and a walk through, distinguishing between the concept at hand, and the library specific implementation semantics. Also, similar examples are used where appropriate, making it easier to understand the specific nuances of a particular library. Mirroring the measured build up of the text, the code samples evolve in a simple and natural way over the course of a given topic. Although one might complain that there is little imagination in the examples, this focus ensures that the reader walks away with a clear understanding of the "Hello World" level implementation - details are left up to further research.
My only complaint in terms of coverage is that the book is overly "Ruby-only" focused. As an engineer working in a largely heterogeneous environment, I would be interested in a comparison of the internal "Ruby" only packages (e.g. DRb or Rinda) vs. tools that are a bit more cross platform: e.g. in this case, a comparison against a more generalized, stack agnostic marshalling framework (e.g. Google's Protocol Buffers, Facebook's Thrift, Cisco's Etch, or Microsoft's M). In particular, this would signify where the Ruby platform offers a particular advantage for a particular kind of distributed problem. However, as the title goes, this text is focused on the Ruby specific implementations of various technologies, instead of how Ruby as a language plays (with others) in these various areas.
Overall, I would say this is an excellent resource to use as a pointer for further research. If you are developing distributed systems using Ruby, then you are likely already aware of a certain number of these libraries; the survey of alternative options might be informative. For someone like myself who is familiar with distributed systems development but relatively ignorant of Ruby, it proved to be an excellent introduction both to the language, as well as to the Ruby specific semantics for implementing a basic distributed design (e.g. marshalling, task / job execution, etc.)
(Reposted from Bay APLN [...])Distributed Programming with Ruby Overview"A must have title for the well-rounded Ruby programmer building advanced Rails applications and large systems!" OBIE FERNANDEZ, Series EditorComplete, Hands-On Guide to Building Advanced Distributed Applications with RubyDistributed programming techniques make applications easier to scale, develop, and deploy—especially in emerging cloud computing environments. Now, one of the Ruby community's leading experts has written the first definitive guide to distributed programming with Ruby. Mark Bates begins with a simple distributed application, and then walks through an increasingly complex series of examples, demonstrating solutions to the most common distributed programming problems.Bates presents the industry's most useful coverage of Ruby's standard distributed programming libraries, DRb and Rinda. Next, he introduces powerful third-party tools, frameworks, and libraries designed to simplify Ruby distributed programming, including his own Distribunaut. If you're an experienced Ruby programmer or architect, this hands-on tutorial and practical reference will help you meet any distributed programming challenge, no matter how complex.Coverage includes• Writing robust, secure, and interactive applications using DRb—and managing its drawbacks• Using Rinda to build applications with improved flexibility, fault tolerance, and service discovery• Simplifying DRb service management with RingyDingy• Utilizing Starfish to facilitate communication between distributed programs and to write MapReduce functions for processing large data sets• Using Politics to customize the processes running on individual server instances in a cloud computing environment • Providing reliable distributed queuing with the low-overhead Starling messaging server • Implementing comprehensive enterprise messaging with RabbitMQ and Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP)• Offloading heavyweight tasks with BackgrounDRb and DelayedJob

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Web Development with the Mac (Developer Reference) Review

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Web Development with the Mac (Developer Reference) ReviewI work in the field of IT and have worked in web development but it has never been a focused effort to concentrate on it because my day jobs have always had me moving around from one function to another. I was always a Windows person and had never touched a Mac until last year.
The title of this book intrigued me right away because I am a web developer and I have a Mac. If that describes you or if you are thinking about jumping into the field, then this book is for you.
Having come from a Windows background, jumping into the Mac was definitely challenging - but I got over the bumps and learned to love the Mac. I thought I had a pretty good handle on what it could do, until I read this book. I honestly had no idea of the features that were built in to the platform, features that you have to install as add-ons in Windows. I mean, who would think that a complete web development platform was already present and waiting to be enabled. I'm speaking of the fact that Apache, PHP and even Ruby are all right there for you. Aaron clearly loves the Mac and he wants you to love it as well. He has gone out of his way to reveal all the secrets to working with the Mac. You can basically envision how he works on a daily basis, through the information and comments that he provides.
This book goes through pretty much anything you would need to know to set yourself up as a web developer and have a good chance at being successful. Of course, you have to provide the talent and the book does not teach you how to be a "designer" but it teaches you all the fundamentals of how to be a developer. The book goes from how to edit content on your Mac to how to test it locally, including enabling all the services the Mac has to offer. Then, you are provided guidance on how to work with a Unix server. Why? Because most web hosts are Unix based and it is a system you need to know if you are going to do the job. You'll learn how to push files to the Mac and how to back them up. You'll learn how to automate the login process through the creation and storage of authentication keys. You'll even get a tutorial of how to work with the Unix firewall tools so that you can harden the system and prevent someone from breaking into the server.
Once you get a good overview of the mechanical aspects, the book moves you into the development world by going through HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc. You get the full tour. This is not just one small chapter that tells you that these technologies exist. The detail is sufficient to give you a very good start on working with all of it.
Next up, the book moves on to the topic of designing web sites and again, the book does a great job at giving you instructions on how to do this. No, it does not really teach you about how to build a great design. That's a subjective topic and one that probably can't even be taught. However, if you want to know the basics about how to use Photoshop or a similar design tool, this will open your eyes. Ever heard of wireframes? Do you know how to use them? You're covered here. You'll even learn the secrets to the twelve-column web layout that may sites use and you don't even realize it.
Finally, the book moves into server-side technology and covers MySQL, PHP as well as Ruby and the Rails Framework. I come from a Java background, mostly backend, so I only skimmed the chapter on Ruby and Rails. However, I will go back and look at it when I get a chance. It looks like a great option for developers.
Be sure to go through the Appendix sections of the book as well. They are full of useful tips and links that you'll be glad to have gone through.
The writing style of the book is casual and feels like you grabbed a very large mug of your favorite beverage and sat down with Aaron so that he could teach you everything you need to know. The colorful wording and injection of reality gives you the sense that you are learning secrets from a good friend who really wants you to do well.
My overall thought is that this book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who is, or wants to be, a freelance web developer. It will also be a great book to have if you are a relatively new Mac user and work with these technologies. Is this book useful if you are a "Windows" user? Honestly? Yes. If you leave out the Mac-specific references, this book is still a solid read for anyone wanting a good overview of how to be a developer and you'll learn a lot from it.Web Development with the Mac (Developer Reference) OverviewEverything you need to know to create Web sites using your Mac
Create and deploy striking Web sites and apps on a Mac for your own business or for clients using the essential techniques in this focused guide. While most Web site how-tos are geared toward either designers or programmers, this detailed book covers both aspects, helping you develop the complete skill sets that you'll need professionally. Tap all of the out-of-the-box perks that Apple has to offer for Web development with these techniques and insights from a seasoned Mac Web developer.
Takes you through everything that Macs have to offer for Web development, such as a Web server, PHP, and Ruby on Rails; Macs come with these right out of the box, making setting up a Web development environment pushbutton-easy
Reveals the science and the artistry behind creating beautiful and intuitive Web pages using Apple technology
Covers the technical elements of Web page construction with HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and Rails; then goes beyond to show you how to add creative flair using Photoshop

Turn your design and development skills into marketable assets with this essential guide for Apple users.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

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Python Web Development with Django Review

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Python Web Development with Django ReviewWe are a Python shop at work and have recently started developing in Django. So I picked this book up as a total beginner to Django, but an experienced Python programmer. I feel that the book would be more or less the same even for someone totally new to Python, because Django is definitely a different kind of beast.
Overall, this book was okay to good. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. It is definitely targeted at beginners to Django (and possibly Python). As a Django beginner, I first ran through the tutorial on the Django website, because it is very thorough and good. I definitely recommend that as a starting place regardless of which book you end up buying. Then I cracked open this book. The first chapter is a 50-page introduction to Python, so I skipped that. Chapter 2 is a tutorial in which you build a simple blog. So by the time I had finished that chapter, I had built two different Django sites but not really read anything about the language or framework or theory thereof. I think this is a good thing, and this chapter is well-placed. Chapter 3 introduces Django. It covers dynamic web sites, communication, data storage, presentation, separating the layers (MVC), general django architecture, and "core philosophies of Django". It is a decent introduction, though I read through it quickly so I could get to the next three chapters.
The next three chapters make up the Django in Depth section and are the bread-and-butter of the book. The first chapter covers models, the second URLs/HTTP/views, and the third templates and form processing. For me, these were the chapters I was most looking forward to, where I would learn everything I needed to know to get started really understanding. And they let me down a bit. Each one was good in what it covered, but the problem was that it left out quite a bit. The part on the models themselves was pretty good and covered the necessities. But the part on querying was a little sparse. They left much for the reader to go to the documentation and find out. (But what's the point of the book, then?) I did think it was nice that they mentioned fixtures, as I had trouble finding that information online when I needed to set one up for work. The chapter on views was decent, but seemed to leave out too much detail. The section covering views specifically was short. Finally, the template/forms chapter again left the reader to find out critical details in the online documentation. First, the template section was short. Second, the forms section seemed long enough, but I just found that it wasn't that helpful when I was really creating forms for work.
The next four chapters are tutorials in which you build various applications. I haven't gone through these yet, but they look pretty good. I think Django is one of those things that is best learned in a very hands-on fashion. Perhaps some of the weaknesses of the previous three chapters are made up for here; but I doubt it, and if so feel that information should have still been included in the earlier chapters. (The book is fairly slim and could definitely be expanded.) Chapter 11 covers advanced Django programming, including customizing the admin, using syndication, generating downloadable files, enhancing Django's ORM with custom managers, and extending the template system. The chapter seems decent enough, although I haven't had to do any of these things yet. Likewise, with Chapter 12 covering advanced Django deployment, I haven't had to deploy anything yet so I only know that the chapter seems to cover some useful information.Python Web Development with Django OverviewUsing the simple, robust, Python-based Django framework, you can build powerful Web solutions with remarkably few lines of code. In Python Web Development with Django®, three experienced Django and Python developers cover all the techniques, tools, and concepts you need to make the most of Django 1.0, including all the major features of the new release. The authors teach Django through in-depth explanations, plus provide extensive sample code supported with images and line-by-line explanations. You'll discover how Django leverages Python's development speed and flexibility to help you solve a wide spectrum of Web development problems and learn Django best practices covered nowhere else. You'll build your first Django application in just minutes and deepen your real-world skills through start-to-finish application projects includingSimple Web log (blog) Online photo gallery Simple content management system Ajax-powered live blogger Online source code sharing/syntax highlighting tool How to run your Django applications on the Google App EngineThis complete guide starts by introducing Python, Django, and Web development concepts, then dives into the Django framework, providing a deep understanding of its major components (models, views, templates), and how they come together to form complete Web applications. After a discussion of four independent working Django applications, coverage turns to advanced topics, such as caching, extending the template system, syndication, admin customization, and testing. Valuable reference appendices cover using the command-line, installing and configuring Django, development tools, exploring existing Django applications, the Google App Engine, and how to get more involved with the Django community.Introduction 1Part I: Getting StartedChapter 1: Practical Python for Django 7Chapter 2: Django for the Impatient: Building a Blog 57Chapter 3: Starting Out 77Part II: Django in DepthChapter 4: Defining and Using Models 89Chapter 5: URLs, HTTP Mechanisms, and Views 117Chapter 6: Templates and Form Processing 135Part III: Django Applications by ExampleChapter 7: Photo Gallery 159Chapter 8: Content Management System 181Chapter 9: Liveblog 205Chapter 10: Pastebin 221Part IV: Advanced Django Techniques and FeaturesChapter 11: Advanced Django Programming 235Chapter 12: Advanced Django Deployment 261Part V: AppendicesAppendix A: Command Line Basics 285Appendix B: Installing and Running Django 295Appendix C: Tools for Practical Django Development 313Appendix D: Finding, Evaluating, and Using Django Applications 321Appendix E: Django on the Google App Engine 325Appendix F: Getting Involved in the Django Project 337Index 339Colophon 375

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