mirror of https://github.com/rails/rails
85 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
## Welcome to Rails
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Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to
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create database-backed web applications according to the
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[Model-View-Controller (MVC)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93controller)
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pattern.
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Understanding the MVC pattern is key to understanding Rails. MVC divides your
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application into three layers, each with a specific responsibility.
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The _Model layer_ represents your domain model (such as Account, Product,
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Person, Post, etc.) and encapsulates the business logic that is specific to
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your application. In Rails, database-backed model classes are derived from
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`ActiveRecord::Base`. Active Record allows you to present the data from
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database rows as objects and embellish these data objects with business logic
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methods. Although most Rails models are backed by a database, models can also
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be ordinary Ruby classes, or Ruby classes that implement a set of interfaces
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as provided by the Active Model module. You can read more about Active Record
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in its [README](activerecord/README.rdoc).
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The _Controller layer_ is responsible for handling incoming HTTP requests and
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providing a suitable response. Usually this means returning HTML, but Rails controllers
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can also generate XML, JSON, PDFs, mobile-specific views, and more. Controllers load and
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manipulate models, and render view templates in order to generate the appropriate HTTP response.
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In Rails, incoming requests are routed by Action Dispatch to an appropriate controller, and
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controller classes are derived from `ActionController::Base`. Action Dispatch and Action Controller
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are bundled together in Action Pack. You can read more about Action Pack in its
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[README](actionpack/README.rdoc).
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The _View layer_ is composed of "templates" that are responsible for providing
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appropriate representations of your application's resources. Templates can
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come in a variety of formats, but most view templates are HTML with embedded
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Ruby code (ERB files). Views are typically rendered to generate a controller response,
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or to generate the body of an email. In Rails, View generation is handled by Action View.
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You can read more about Action View in its [README](actionview/README.rdoc).
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Active Record, Action Pack, and Action View can each be used independently outside Rails.
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In addition to them, Rails also comes with Action Mailer ([README](actionmailer/README.rdoc)), a library
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to generate and send emails; and Active Support ([README](activesupport/README.rdoc)), a collection of
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utility classes and standard library extensions that are useful for Rails, and may also be used
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independently outside Rails.
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## Getting Started
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1. Install Rails at the command prompt if you haven't yet:
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gem install rails
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2. At the command prompt, create a new Rails application:
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rails new myapp
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where "myapp" is the application name.
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3. Change directory to `myapp` and start the web server:
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cd myapp
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rails server
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Run with `--help` or `-h` for options.
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4. Using a browser, go to `http://localhost:3000` and you'll see:
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"Welcome aboard: You're riding Ruby on Rails!"
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5. Follow the guidelines to start developing your application. You may find
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the following resources handy:
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* [Getting Started with Rails](http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html)
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* [Ruby on Rails Guides](http://guides.rubyonrails.org)
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* [The API Documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org)
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* [Ruby on Rails Tutorial](http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book)
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## Contributing
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We encourage you to contribute to Ruby on Rails! Please check out the
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[Contributing to Ruby on Rails guide](http://edgeguides.rubyonrails.org/contributing_to_ruby_on_rails.html) for guidelines about how to proceed. [Join us!](http://contributors.rubyonrails.org)
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## Code Status
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* [](https://travis-ci.org/rails/rails)
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* [](https://gemnasium.com/rails/rails)
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## License
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Ruby on Rails is released under the [MIT License](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
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