Mike Clark

I'm absolutely loving Chad Fowler's new book Rails Recipes. He currently has 36 tasty recipes in the beta book, and it seems like every couple weeks he drops several new morsels in. It's very readable and well thought out, but what I really love is the quality of the recipes he's chosen. They aren't obscure hacks or low-level idioms presented without context. Rather, his recipes show you how to get things done!

For example, I just started building a new Rails application, and I've literally been able to walk through several recipes and use them wholesale. And, having learned exciting new stuff, I've even gone back to apps I've already written and added recipes.

Now, I know Rails well enough that over time I may have stumbled on some of the solutions, but that's not the point. With a collection of great recipes at hand—In-Place Form Editing, Live Search, RJS Templates, Polymorphic Associations, Tagging, Syndicate Your Site with RSS, and Sending Email with Attachments to name a few—I can quickly give my app the functionality today's web users have come to expect, then move on to the features that really set it apart from the crowd.

And what's made the recipes truly fun is they've taught me more about Rails. Chad has lots of Rails experience and unique insight into what's happening behind the scenes of Rails development, and his prowess really shines in the recipes. You're learning not just how to solve a problem, but also how best to solve the problem the Rails Way.

If you're serious about building Rails apps, Rails Recipes is an absolute must-have. It's already saved me a ton of time and helped take my Rails game to a new level. Chad's also moderating a new discussion group for the book, so if you have recipe ideas or just want to chat with other readers, please stop by.