About this course: You already know how to build a basic web application with the Ruby on Rails framework. Perhaps, you have even taken Course 1, "Ruby on Rails: An Introduction" (we highly recommend it) where you relied on external web services to be your “data layer”. But in the back of your mind, you always knew that there would come a time when you would need to roll up your sleeves and learn SQL to be able to interact with your own relational database (RDBMS). But there is an easier way to get started with SQL using the Active Record Object/Relational (ORM) framework. In this course, we will be able to use the Ruby language and the Active Record ORM framework to automate interactions with the database to quickly build the application we want. In Rails with Active Record and Action Pack, we will explore how to interact with relational databases by using Active Record, a Ruby gem, which Rails uses by default for database access. We will then take a look at what role Active Record plays in the overall request-response cycle, when a client (the browser) requests data from the server, as well as how to submit the data to the server. Of course, when accessing data, security is of paramount importance! We will talk about vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, as well as how to secure access to data by authenticating and authorizing users accessing the data. Take this course to build a Ruby on Rails application with Active Record to automate the detailed SQL interactions with our database.
Taught by: Kalman Hazins, Adjunct Professor, Graduate Computer Science
Whiting School of Engineering
| Basic Info | Course 2 of 6 in the Ruby on Rails Web Development Specialization |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Reading: Grading
- Video: Welcome to Module 1: Introduction to Active Record
- Reading: Github Repository for Module 1
- Reading: Recommended Books
- Video: Scaffolding
- Video: Database Setup and SQLite
- Video: Introduction to Migrations
- Video: Creating and Modifying Tables and Columns
- Practice Quiz: Scaffold and Migrations
- Video: Dynamic Dispatch
- Video: Dynamic Methods
- Video: Ghost Methods
- Video: Introduction to Active Record
- Video: Active Record CRUD: Part 1
- Video: Active Record CRUD: Part 2
- Practice Quiz: Active Record Queries
- Reading: GitHub Repository for Module 2
- Reading: Recommended Books
- Video: Seeding the Database
- Video: SQL Fragments and Dangers of SQL Injection
- Video: Array and Hash Condition Syntax
- Practice Quiz: Advanced Querying
- Video: One-to-One Association
- Video: One-to-Many Association
- Video: Many-to-Many Association
- Video: Rich Many-to-Many Association
- Practice Quiz: Relationships
- Video: Active Record Scopes
- Video: Validations
- Video: N+1 Queries Issue and DB Transactions
- Reading: GitHub Repository for Module 3
- Reading: Recommended Books
- Video: Introduction to Action Pack
- Video: REST and Rails
- Practice Quiz: Action Pack
- Video: Restful Actions: Index
- Video: Restful Actions: Show and Destroy
- Video: Restful Actions: New and Create
- Video: Strong Parameters and Flash
- Video: Restful Actions: Edit and Update
- Practice Quiz: Restful Actions
- Video: Partials
- Video: Form Helpers and Layouts
- Reading: GitHub Repository for Module 4
- Reading: Recommended Books
- Video: Building an App with Multiple Resources
- Video: Nested Resources: Part 1
- Video: Nested Resources: Part 2
- Practice Quiz: Nested Resources
- Video: Authentication
- Video: HTTP Sessions and Cookies
- Video: Sessions Controller and View
- Video: Authorization
- Practice Quiz: Authentication
- Video: Pagination
- Video: Deploying to Heroku and Enabling SSL
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
| Purchase Course | |
|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Available |
Well taught and very interactive. I recommend this to every one interested in understanding the core concepts of rails
Good tips for the double AA.
This course is much better than the previous course "Ruby on Rails: An Introduction". If you struggled through the first class, this one is much more user friendly and easy to go along with.This is definitely a Rails course, with the first course being a Ruby course.
The professor's audio issues are much less pronounced in this course and less noticeable. The lectures are not as monotone and boring to listen to as well.
The modules are broken down into better sections that flow together. The materials, though older, can still be followed and course materials can be used. There has been at least some updates for newer versions of Ruby, Rails, and gems.
The assignments go with the course lectures and many of the examples can point you in the right direction. The assignments are not direct copies of the lectures with many items needing to be modified to accommodate for the assignment requirements. Each module is a take/variation of the previous assignment, which is nice because you get a better sense of how they are working together. The RSPEC files are much better at actually pointing you towards what your issues are. The Wiki site has more beneficial Q/A.
With the assignment time estimates, I found that I usually had to double the higher estimates for the amount that I would spend on each one.
One of the problems with this course is that the assignment files seem to be written by multiple people. They can be very confusing at times, hard to follow. Because the assignments are written in this way, some things will break but are fixed in later steps, though you will not know that they are fixed later after you spend time trying to fix the issues so RSPEC or the Web test will pass.
Another problem with the course has to do with Rails in general. It has some weird conventions and tries to be "Too helpful" at times. You will still have to use Google to figure out what the correct convention is and maybe why some things are done.
This is a great course. I had no knowledge in Ruby and web development before this course (I skipped Intro to Rails course which is the first in this specialization). This course has very well designed coding assignment with tests written in RSpec. All four coding assignments all build upon the previous one, so there is no context switch, and they together build up Todo List App. I love the fact this course is very focused on MVC of Rails. I would recommend it to anyone who would love to learn Rails and MVC pattern.