Hi,
I would like to start making code patches to Rails. Are there any good books on 'advanced' Ruby that I should read to understand the rails source code? Are there any other tips on getting started? Rails seems like a large beast and I don't know where to start!
Thanks, Jason.
UPDATE: I'm also looking for something that explains more the 'networking' side of it -- i.e. HTTP, web servers, Rack, etc.
My advice would be to read this one: http://pragprog.com/titles/rails3/agile-web-development-with-rails-third-edition to get a pretty much complete understanding of how rails works on the outside, if you haven't already.
And then checkout the latest trunk and start reading a component you like, messing with files as you please and trying out the changes on a live project.
Metaprogramming is a concept used a lot in Rails, so this book would definitely be good too: http://pragprog.com/titles/ppmetr/metaprogramming-ruby.
Hope that'll put you on your way
I've written the beginnings of an initialization guide for Rails 3 that may help you understand some of the common concepts in Rails 3. This covers mostly the "railties" part, but branches out in the actual Railties. It really depends on what you want to patch/look at in Rails as to how much this actually applies to you.
Medium eXposure's Rails 3 Reading Material has a ton of ... er, reading material, and Jason Seifer's 32 Rack Resources to Get You Started (2) should keep you occupied on Rack for as long as you want.
You might be interested in Rails on Rack (3). It assumes some knowledge of Rack but provides good links for obtaining that knowledge.
The Engine Yard series on the Rails and Merb merge (4) contains a lot of good information about the inner workings and upcoming changes in Rails 3.
2: http://jasonseifer.com/2009/04/08/32-rack-resources-to-get-you-started
3: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/rails_on_rack.html
4: http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2010/rails-and-merb-merge-rack-part-6-of-6/
Sorry those aren't hyperlinked, SO has a shotgun policy about new users posting links so I had to fake it.
you need "the rails way" by obie fernandez - http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780321445612
it's far better than any other rails books - just pure information - doubt that it's rails3 ready but there might be plans for an updated version - seriously, buy it
As you have noted you should probably start with the basics. I'd suggest reading "Computer Networks" by Andrew S. Tanenbaum while learning rails and ruby. You can find it in almost any scientific library.