Hi Blue Alpha, This is very impressive and encouraging. Just wanted to know which IDE you used?
Thanks VJ On Aug 21, 5:43 am, Alpha Blue <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > First, this is a longer than normal read but I hope that you get through > it all and can learn from my experiences. > > So, I wanted to talk about my experiences with my first rails project > now that I've completed it for the beginning of the football season. > First, here's the link: > > http://ncaastatpages.com > > I used to work as a Windows System Administrator for Charles Schwab, > working out of a U.S. Trust regional area before they sold the company > to Bank of America. After the transition, my fiance and I moved to > Plymouth, MA to be closer to her family and I figured finding work would > be easy in Boston or Providence. However, with the market conditions, > finding infrastructure jobs worsened for everyone, including myself. > > So, I had some extra time and I had two hard choices before me. I could > either work on finishing up some certifications, MCSE or CCNA etc. or I > could work on development, a side of life I really enjoy immensely. I > chose the latter. > > I've always wanted to learn Ruby and Ruby on Rails is a great framework, > in addition. My former ncaastatpages.com site was solely driven on PHP > and had numerous issues. > > So, approx. 9 weeks ago, knowing absolutely nothing about ruby or ruby > and rails, I purchased 4 books (1-ruby, 2 - rails, and 1 enterprise > rails) and started to read. I took on a new project which included > upgrading my site and getting familiar with all that rails had to offer. > I went through a lot of hoops and hurdles but I'm happy to say that I > learned a great deal from working with the project, and from this > mailing group / boards. > > So many of you have helped me over the past 9 weeks that I feel I'm > sharing a project that's been touched by many. I really want to thank > those of you who shared your wisdom, your understanding, and your > patience with me. > > ======================= > My first baby steps > ======================= > > The first thing I did really, was go out and purchase a giant dry eraser > board. I nailed it right next to my computer and started to draw out > diagrams for how everything in my site was currently working. I saw a > lot of huge mistakes right from the start and since I was starting over, > I figured I could -erase- them and begin anew. > > My database wasn't normalized to 3NF (3rd normal form) and that's where > I wanted to begin. Making sure that my database was organized properly > was important. I drew out my own schema which changed so many times, I > used up an entire pen drawing and erasing it out. > > ======================= > Components > ======================= > > I needed to figure out what components I wanted to use with my site. I > knew I needed the following: > > Authentication > Pagination for tables > > I started with just a few things - restful authentication and will > paginate. I quickly realized that I needed more than this but started > to get lost in the shuffle. I needed some hand holding and found that > Ryan Bates' railscasts site and the Learning Rails site from Michael > Slater and Christopher Haupt helped me out immensely, showing how to > create and manage my site with some baby steps. > > I worked like a mad man, approx. 11 - 13 hours a day every day for 9 > weeks to get my site ready for the season. > > ======================= > Hey n00b, yes you.. > ======================= > > There were times I felt like a real newbie, even a little embarrassed to > have to ask some questions that might show that my skill with rails was > quite dismal. However, I have a photographic memory and retain > information like a sponge. I learn incredibly fast and no one here made > me feel embarrassed to have asked any question. I want you to know that > if you are new to rails that any question that goes unanswered for you, > will only make things worse. > > Measuring skillsets with rails really comes down to how many questions > you have left to ask. Each day I had at least 100 questions. Today I > can probably count my entire list of questions on two hands. > > ======================= > Expand and Test > ======================= > > Creating tests was probably at times more difficult than creating my > site. It took me a long time to understand how to build a test criteria > and once I learned it, it became easier and easier. When I first > started, I thought, nope - no testing, not going to do it. It isn't > necessary because I'm thorough. The more I added to my site the easier > it was to overlook something simple, even with as thorough as I had > been. I couldn't put it off and so I started to write tests for > everything. > > Lo, and behold, what's that? Some of your database date columns are > float columns! What's this? Some of your associations aren't really > associated.. > > I think you can understand the point I'm making. Testing adds the most > important layer to your application, in that it won't get tired. It > will not get lazy. If you cannot write a test failure for your code, > then you should find out why and fix that. Don't be lazy. Make it > work. > > ======================= > Seeing the whole picture > ======================= > > About a week ago I started to relax a bit. I took a deep breath and > started to look over the whole picture. What had I really accomplished > with my project in the 9 weeks I began to work on it? > > Full Authentication > User Authentication Mailers > Subscription Mailers > News Mailers > Encrypted Payment Gateway with IPN > CMS style in-text editing on dynamic pages > Fully normalized database, indexed, optimized for speed > Full collegiate statistics tables > TSRS Ratings System converted from php to rails > Head-2-Head Virtual Matchups (game comparisons) > Team clubhouse pages > Trends Analysis Support for teams > Flash and non-flash support > Scripting and non-scripting support > Browser testing with all major browsers > .. etc.. etc.. > > ======================= > Going to Production > ======================= > > My site uses Linux, Apache2, Passenger, Capistrano + Github and my > experience with all of those could be summed up with the following > number (4%). I had about 4% experience with any of those pieces before > I started working with Rails. In 2 months, my experience with all 4 is > now around (75%). > > My site had some hiccups but I fully administrate it on slicehost > myself. I'm the designer, the administrator, the creator of my world. > It's not that difficult when you figure out that there are IRC channels > out there that can help with everything: > > http://webchat.freenode.net/(hit #RoR for ruby on rails, #Github for > github, #httpd for apache support, #Capistrano for Capistrano support, > #Passenger for passenger support) > > ======================= > Humble Confidence > ======================= > > I will say with a humble confidence that if you set your mind on a task, > believe in yourself (even if no one else does) you can do great things. > I believe that the harder road is the one that provides the path to > greater wealth and wisdom. If you do things that are easy, you receive > a lesser reward. > > Always have faith and be patient, even in the darker hours when you feel > you are alone and no one is there to catch you as you fall into a dark > abyss. When you get there, step back, get some rest and tomorrow is > another day. > > I've learned over this tumultuous 9 weeks that Rails is a fantastic > framework and Ruby is a fantastic language. I've learned that others > out there believe the same thing and that many of you who have helped > me, stand by these thoughts. > > ======================= > In Closing > ======================= > > Don't be afraid to learn. Don't be afraid to help others, especially > since you probably needed help at one time too. Be consistent and learn > from your mistakes. Take great notes and document your application > properly. If you leave your app for 1 year you should be able to come > back and understand where everything is and why it's there. > > I love Ruby and Rails. I put a "Riding on Rails" link on my site out of > tribute to the community and to the framework. I hope you enjoy my > site. A lot of positive things are coming out of it already and > hopefully this season it takes off. > > Take care and many blessings. > > JD. > -- > Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
