Foreword to the Rails 5 Edition

You’ve made a great decision to learn Ruby on Rails. The language, framework, and community have never been in better shape, and the community has never been easier to join than it is today. The early days of the frontier are gone, and while some of the cowboy excitement went with it, what we have instead is a sophisticated, modern, and functional state.

The spoils of such progress will hopefully become apparent as you work your way through this book. Ruby on Rails takes care of an inordinate amount of what most developers need most of the time. In the world of web development, that’s an awful lot! An overwhelming lot at times.

But don’t be intimidated. You don’t need to understand every fine point and every minutia before you can begin to make progress. Ruby on Rails has been designed to flatten the learning curve as much as possible while at the same time encouraging you to level up over time.

Becoming an expert in full-stack web development won’t happen overnight. Even Ruby on Rails can’t replace the inherent depth of knowledge required to understand every facet, from HTTP to databases to JavaScript to object-oriented best practices to testing methodologies. One day you’ll be able to converse fluently about all that, but don’t worry or expect that to be “twenty-one days from now” (or whatever snake-oil sales speak some publishers might try to push on you).

The journey from here to there is half the fun. You’ve arrived in a community that cares an extraordinary amount about the craft of writing great software for the web. This might seem a little strange at first: is it really possible to care that much whether an if-statement is at the beginning of a conditional or if it’s an unless-statement at the end? Yes, yes it is. Helping more programmers develop an eye for such details is a big part of our mission here.

Because Ruby on Rails isn’t just about getting stuff done quickly. That’s part of it, but it’s the lesser one. The greater appeal is in making software for the web fun, rewarding, and inspiring. To make learning all the nooks and crannies of our crazy craft an adventure.

Every new version of Rails expands the scope of what we try to tackle together. This is unapologetically not a minimalist framework. And Rails 5 is no different. With this major new version we’ve opened the door to a major new domain: the real-time web. You’re in for a real treat here as well.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You have much to learn, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it. I’ve been programming in Ruby and working on Rails for the past thirteen years. It never ceases to inspire and motivate me to see new developers discover our wonderful language and framework for the first time. In some ways, I’m even jealous.

Welcome to Ruby on Rails!