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Geared for the non-programmer, and intended to complement class instruction, it provides a unique, powerful beginner-focused tutorial.

This is the student guidebook for my courses in web development, it is not an all-encompassing Rails book. It's intention is to get true beginners introduced to the most salient aspects of computer programming and application development. Suitable follow-up books would be Agile Web Development with Rails and The Well-Grounded Rubyist.

Table of Contents

\nI Fasten Your Seatbelts\n
- 1 What is computer programming?
- \n2 IPO\n
  \n
- \n3 Speaking To Computers\n
  - 3.1 The Calculator Language
  - 3.2 The Command-Line Language
  \n
- \n4 Tools of our Trade\n
  - 4.1 Browser
  - 4.2 Text Editor
  - 4.3 Ruby on Rails
  - 4.4 All Systems Go
  \n
\n
\nII Creating a Website\n
- \n5 The Coding Cycle\n
  - 5.1 Writing the Code
  - 5.2 Viewing the Page in a Browser
  \n
- \n6 Content\n
  - 6.1 Elements
  - 6.2 Headings
  - 6.3 Paragraphs
  - 6.4 Lists
  - 6.5 Links
  - 6.6 Images
  \n
- \n7 Structure and Semantics\n
  - 7.1 Arbitrary Divisions
  - 7.2 Headers
  - 7.3 Navigation Bars
  - 7.4 Asides
  - 7.5 Footers
  \n
- \n8 Visual Appearance\n
  - 8.1 The style element
  - 8.2 Selectors
  - 8.3 Positioning
  - 8.4 Sizing
  - 8.5 Floating
  \n
- \n9 Starting Points\n
  - 9.1 Blank Page
  - 9.2 A Small Head Start
  - 9.3 A Giant Head Start
  \n
\n
\nIII Programming with Ruby\n
- \n10 Interactive Ruby\n
  - 10.1 The Calculator, Again
  - 10.2 Variables
  - 10.3 Numbers and Strings
  - 10.4 Lists of Things
  - 10.5 Symbols
  \n
- \n11 Ruby Programs\n
  - 11.1 Our First Program
  - 11.2 Output
  - 11.3 Loops and Iterators
  - 11.4 Input
  - 11.5 Methods
  - 11.6 Classes
  \n
- \n12 Ruby and the Internet\n
  - 12.1 Downloading Web Pages
  - 12.2 Using Web Services
  - 12.3 JSON
  \n
\n
\nIV Building a Web App with Rails\n
- \n13 A Blueprint for Success\n
  - 13.1 What is Rails?
  - 13.2 Partners in Crime
  - 13.3 From Driver to Passenger
  \n
- \n14 Welcome Aboard\n
  \n
- \n15 HTTP 101\n
  - 15.1 Requests
  - 15.2 Responses
  - 15.3 Common Status Codes
  \n
- \n16 Railties\n
  - 16.1 A World of Resources
  - 16.2 Accessing Resources
  - 16.3 URL Naming Conventions
  - 16.4 Controllers
  - 16.5 Actions
  \n
- \n17 The Recommendations List\n
  - 17.1 Step 1: Route
  - 17.2 Step 2: Controller
  - 17.3 Step 3: Action
  - 17.4 Step 4: View
  - 17.5 Stylesheet Assets
  \n
- \n18 Data-Backed Views\n
  - 18.1 Embedding Ruby in a View
  - 18.2 Controllers Gonna Control
  - 18.3 View Helpers
  \n
- \n19 Simple Models\n
  \n
- \n20 Database-Backed Models\n
  \n
- \n21 Model-Backed Views\n
  - 21.1 The index Action
  - 21.2 The show Action
  \n
- \n22 User Input with Forms\n
  - 22.1 The form_tag Helper
  - 22.2 Model-Backed Forms with form_for
  \n
- \n23 A Complete Model-Backed Resource\n
  - 23.1 index
  - 23.2 show
  - 23.3 new
  - 23.4 create
  - 23.5 destroy
  - 23.6 edit
  - 23.7 update
  - 23.8 The scaffold Generator
  \n
- \n24 Smart Views\n
  - 24.1 Partials
  - 24.2 Layouts
  \n
- \n25 Model Associations\n
  - 25.1 One-to-Many
  - 25.2 Many-to-Many
  \n
- \n26 User Accounts\n
  - 26.1 Sign Up
  - 26.2 Sign In
  - 26.3 Sign Out
  - 26.4 Authorization
  \n
\n
\nV Icing on the Cake\n
- \n27 Javascript\n
  - 27.1 jQuery
  - 27.2 AJAX
  - 27.3 CoffeeScript
  \n
- \n28 Deployment\n
  - 28.1 Heroku
  - 28.2 Nitrous.io
  - 28.3 Your Own Server
  \n
- 29 Sending Email
- 30 OAuth
- \n31 Agile Principles in Rails\n
  - 31.1 DRY
  - 31.2 YAGNI
  - 31.3 SRP
  - 31.4 Unit Testing and TDD
  \n
- \n32 Quick Guide to Github\n
  - 32.1 Creating an Account
  - 32.2 Downloading Code
  - 32.3 Uploading Code
  - 32.4 Collaborating on Code
  \n
- 33 Glossary
\n

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