Is there anything that explains the Rails' API documentation?

Question

I know that http://api.rubyonrails.org/ is meant to explain methods etc in ruby on rails, but I need something that explains the explanation to me. It seems like a good resource, I'd like to understand it or perhaps it's time to give up.

Answer 1

I suggest you try some light reading first. Quite a few Rails tutorials exist.

Answer 2

http://api.rubyonrails.org is definitely not what I would call newbie friendly. Here's some places to go for more information:

railsapi.com -- Same idea but way better presentation, easier to navigate. Use this like you would msdn.com: a reference for things you already know about, but need to look up the particulars.

guides.rubyonrails.org -- This is geared much more towards new users in a tutorial format.

railscasts.com -- Short demonstrations of particular features and plugins in screencast format.

Of course if you have any specific questions about the framework you've already come to the right place.

Answer 3

As the URL indicates, this is API documentation. You use it for reference, not for learning about the language or framework. This is not specific to the Rails API, but for just about every framework out there.

I suggest you follow a few Ruby tutorials and then start on a few Rails tutorials first.

http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/ should get you started on Ruby. I won't bother linking to Rails tutorials, but http://railscasts.com/ is an excellent place to start once you get a basic Rails app up and running.

After that, the Rails API will start making a lot more sense.

Answer 4

Use Django instead :-)

Answer 5

I think this might be what I was after

Reading the API

Answer 6

I recommend at http://www.railsbrain.com and http://railsapi.com/doc/rails-v2.3.5/ as better ways of navigating the docs.

Answer 7

Another good source would be apidock.com

Contains lots of examples on how to use each rails feature.

In addition the same site also provides documentation for Ruby

Answer 8

This one has a lot of good examples: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ruby-on-rails-2.1/rails-quick-guide.htm