Hartl M. Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example

Addison-Wesley Professional, 2010. — 576 p. — ISBN10: 0321743121 ISBN13: 978-0321743121Welcome to Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example. The goal of this book is to be the best answer to the question, If I want to learn web development with Ruby on Rails, where should I start? By the time you finish Ruby on Rails Tutorial, you will have all the knowledge you need to develop and deploy your own custom web applications. You will also be ready to benefit from the many more advanced books, blogs, and screencasts that are part of the thriving Rails educational ecosystem. Finally, since Ruby on Rails Tutorial uses Rails 3.0, the knowledge you gain here will be fully up to date with the latest and greatest version of Rails.1
Ruby on Rails Tutorial follows essentially the same approach as my previous Rails book,2 teaching web development with Rails by building a substantial sample application from scratch. As Derek Sivers notes in the foreword, this book is structured as a linear narrative, designed to be read from start to finish. If you are used to skipping around in technical books, taking this linear approach might require some adjustment, but I suggest giving it a try. You can think of Ruby on Rails Tutorial as a video game where you are the main character, and where you level up as a Rails developer in each chapter. (The exercises are the minibosses.)