Book Image

Polished Ruby Programming

By : Jeremy Evans
Book Image

Polished Ruby Programming

By: Jeremy Evans

Overview of this book

Anyone striving to become an expert Ruby programmer needs to be able to write maintainable applications. Polished Ruby Programming will help you get better at designing scalable and robust Ruby programs, so that no matter how big the codebase grows, maintaining it will be a breeze. This book takes you on a journey through implementation approaches for many common programming situations, the trade-offs inherent in each approach, and why you may choose to use different approaches in different situations. You'll start by refreshing Ruby fundamentals, such as correctly using core classes, class and method design, variable usage, error handling, and code formatting. Then you'll move on to higher-level programming principles, such as library design, use of metaprogramming and domain-specific languages, and refactoring. Finally, you'll learn principles specific to web application development, such as how to choose a database and web framework, and how to use advanced security features. By the end of this Ruby programming book, you’ll be a well rounded web developer with a deep understanding of Ruby. While most code examples and principles discussed in the book apply to all Ruby versions, some examples and principles are specific to Ruby 3.0, the latest release at the time of publication.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
1
Section 1: Fundamental Ruby Programming Principles
8
Section 2: Ruby Library Programming Principles
17
Section 3: Ruby Web Programming Principles

Chapter 15: The Database Is Key

The database is the backbone and most important part of almost all web applications, regardless of the programming language used. This is because the database is where all of an application's data is stored, and in most cases, an application's data is more important than the application itself. In this chapter, you'll learn why proper database design is so important, some important database design principles, and why it is best to use the database's full capabilities. You'll also learn how to choose a model layer for your application, and how to handle database errors when using that model layer.

We will cover the following topics:

  • Learning why database design is so important
  • Understanding the most important database design principles
  • Treating the database as not just dumb storage
  • Choosing the model layer
  • Handling database and model errors

By the end of this chapter, you'll have a better...