What Rails needs is more Documentation or something

With the release of Ruby on Rails 2.0 coming in the near future, we are getting a web development framework that is starting to show signs of maturity. But all is not great. We still don’t have a single place great place to go to get information on how to develop Ruby on Rails apps. Other platforms have their great places, and because this article isn’t about them, I won’t mention them.

<p>About a month ago, I decided that I would throw my hat into the ring for trying to create a place to go for information on writing Rails.  This site would have to provide more than a fancy theme on the <span class="caps">API</span> documentation.  I&#8217;m thinking of specific help for solving specific problems.  The &#8220;Why&#8221;, the &#8220;What&#8221;, the &#8220;How&#8221;, and the &#8220;When&#8221; of Rails programming.</p>


<blockquote>
    <p><em>Why are my tests so slow?</em></p>
</blockquote>


<blockquote>
    <p><em>How can I minimize the number of queries I am attempting?</em></p>
</blockquote>


<blockquote>
    <p><em>What are different types of caching that I may use in my application?</em></p>
</blockquote>


<blockquote>
    <p><em>When should I start abstracting modules out of my Active Record models?</em></p>
</blockquote>


<p>There are many great Ruby on Rails blogs out there that have countless <strong>great</strong> articles on how to do stuff with Rails.  The problem is that even though you are getting a great morsel or nugget of information, it doesn&#8217;t matter much because there is no greater context to relate all the tips to.</p>


<p>One thing to note is it won&#8217;t be 100% focused on Ruby on Rails.  There are other technologies out there that provide great solutions, and I will try to demonstrate different technologies where they fit.</p>


<p>The best thing about all of this, is that I have no idea how I&#8217;m going to accomplish this.  This type of help site could be something new, and I&#8217;m just going to let it grow on its own to see where it goes.  It could be a simple as a blog, with downloads of samples, or it could be a it could a series of podcasts or even a series of screencasts or some combination of all of them.  It could be a live website with embedded content of how I did something (ie. How did I implement authentication and authorization?)</p>


<p>The whole point of this rant is that I&#8217;m committed to showing why Rails is awesome by giving back some much needed documentation.</p>