Pricing and Dates

$1195 Alumni and Groups of 5+
$1495 Early Bird! (thru June 30)
$1795 Regular
    Would you like us to notify you about the next Rails course in late 2009?

Learn how to build high-quality web applications—fast!—from two experienced Rails developers and authors in this 3-day, hands-on training course.

  • Get a jump start and get your questions answered so you can start building your own Rails applications with confidence.
  • Learn how to use all the major features of the latest version of Rails, and how to put them together to build dynamic web applications like the pros.
  • Save time and frustration by focusing exclusively on Rails development for three days with expert guidance at one of Denver's premier training facilities.

You'll come away from this Studio with the skills and confidence to build your own Rails applications: from idea to deployment.

“I was extremely impressed with the training from beginning to end. The registration and setup process was super easy, the facility was first rate (food was awesome), they are outstanding teachers, and the subject material was very interesting.”

—Chris Bischoff

Who Teaches the Studio?

Dave Thomas and Chad Fowler. This Studio is taught by programmers for programmers. Learn directly from two authors of the premier references for Rails who have developed and deployed several real-world Rails applications:

Dave Thomas is the co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer, Programming Ruby, and Agile Web Development with Rails. Along with Andy Hunt, they run The Pragmatic Programmers.

Chad Fowler is a well-known author and Ruby and Rails trainer and consultant. As a co-founder of Ruby Central, he is a leading contributor and frequent speaker in the Ruby community. Chad is the author of Rails Recipes and CTO of InfoEther.

What Will I Learn?

How to rapidly build dynamic web applications. Through a series of guided instruction, hands-on exercises, and discussion, you'll learn the fundamentals of building Rails applications from the ground up. Topics include:

  • The Rails Way: Rails has some fairly strong opinions about web development. Learn how to use all the conventions to your advantage.
  • MVC Design: Learn best practices for designing clean, maintainable web applications by creating decoupled models, views, and controllers.
  • REST: Everyone talks about RESTful web services, and you'll learn how it works in practice. You'll come away with a better understanding of the RESTful conventions and how to design applications within those constraints.
  • Action Pack: Rails simplifies web development through a powerful set of APIs. You'll learn how use those APIs to route incoming HTTP requests into controllers and render HTML pages using view templates, forms, partials, layouts, and helpers.
  • Active Record: Models are the foundation of any good Rails application. They contain all your business logic and encapsulate access to your relational database. You'll learn how to manage your database schema with migrations and design models using validations, one-to-many and many-to-many associations, and custom methods.
  • Authentication: Learn how to remember logged-in users across requests using sessions and implementing filters.
  • AJAX: Rails embraces JavaScript and AJAX, and you'll learn how to judiciously use AJAX to spice up your web application and improve usability.
  • Testing: Testing is a cornerstone of Rails development. Without tests watching your back, you operate out of fear. Learn to code with the confidence that comes from writing unit and functional tests that watch your back.
  • Deployment: The Rails deployment story has changed dramatically over the years, for the better. You'll learn the latest and greatest deployment strategies and how to automate the deployment process using Capistrano.
  • Stay Agile: In addition to learning how to use Rails, you'll also learn how to rapidly create web applications using an incremental and iterative (agile) development style.
  • And Much More!... practical tips, tricks, and techniques used by the pros to work efficiently and build full-featured Rails applications

In addition to the prepared topics, you'll have time to ask questions and spark discussions with other Rails developers.

Who’s It For?

Web application programmers. This Studio will be a good fit for you if...

  • You’re currently programming in an object-oriented language (Ruby, Java, C#, Python, etc.)
  • You understand basic Ruby syntax and concepts
  • You have a working knowledge of relational databases
  • You're new to Rails, or you've started building a Rails application but need help putting all the pieces together

To make efficient use of our time, basic Ruby knowledge is assumed. You can prepare for this Studio by reading chapters 1-9 of the Programming Ruby book. You can purchase the paper and/or PDF version of the third edition, or read the first edition online at no cost. You don't necessarily need to understand everything in the book before class, but it will be a good overview of Ruby and also raise some questions that you can ask during the class.

(Sorry, this Studio is not a good fit for web designers whose programming experience is solely HTML/CSS.)

What's a Studio Like?

Interactive Learning. You'll learn in a significantly different way in a Studio than by reading through the books. Attending a Studio complements what you may have read, but in a hands-on, collaborative environment where you'll:

  • get your questions answered by the experts and your peers
  • learn through hands-on programming exercises
  • discuss up-to-date topics, tips, and tricks
  • discover new techniques in live coding sessions
  • reinforce the concepts you've learned in the books

We think Studio offers the best developer training around. But don't take our word for it. Just ask our alumni. Check out their reviews and applications they've built! The Studio experience continues after the Studio with our private alumni mailing list.

“Certainly one of the best training experiences I've ever had...The materials are good, the guys are experts and the entire thing was fun—which is hard to say about any training program.”

—Hunter Hillegas

What Should I Bring?

Laptop

You and Your Laptop. It wouldn't be a hands-on course if you didn't walk away having written some code. You'll be most productive on the laptop you use regularly. (On average, 60% of attendees bring Mac OS X, 30% bring Windows, and 10% bring Linux.)

A few weeks before the Studio, we'll send out detailed instructions for installing everything you'll need. During the Studio, you'll get hands-on experience working through prepared exercises, and experimenting on your own, too.

Your Registration Includes

  • A continental breakfast, continuous beverages and snacks, and a hot lunch buffet each day
  • A binder with all the printed material
  • All the example source code to refer back to later
  • Internet connectivity and power during the Studio
  • An invitation to our alumni-only mailing list for help after the Studio
  • Discounts on books, screencasts, and future training
  • A stylish Pragmatic Studio t-shirt and more!

Register