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Zero to Rails 3 Virtual Training »

Created at: 13.01.2011 18:09, source: Engine Yard Blog, tagged: training zero to rails 3

Happy New Year! Making new years' resolutions is a long standing tradition. Unfortunately, breaking those resolutions is also a tradition. I don't have scientific proof, but I'd guess that most resolutions that get broken are abandoned because they're difficult to keep, or even hard to start. For example, let's say you've resolved to become fit. If you don't have a fitness regimen already, it can be pretty tough to adopt one. But things get a lot easier if you have a buddy or a trainer. Once you pass the initial hump and get into a habit of exercising, you're more likely to succeed. Starting programming projects can be the same, especially if you're using a new language and framework. The quick start has been a key reason Ruby on Rails caught on so quickly. With minimal setup (thanks to "convention over configuration"), programmers could write a simple database-backed Web app in minutes. That said, taking the time to read through the mountains of documentation online, or to read and work through a book, can still be a barrier of entry to some. Engine Yard University aims to lower this barrier with the Zero to Rails 3 training. It's an online class, which means you don't have to travel anywhere to take it. Plus, taking the course will also get you started on something else that many programmers have a hard time starting and sticking with: Test-Driven Development (TDD). Some training programs mention TDD, but skip doing it to save time. Unfortunately, this mirrors a common occurrence in software development. Developers start a project thinking they'll write tests later. As more code is written, the bigger the testing mountain becomes, while the barrier to getting started with testing keeps getting higher. By learning Ruby and Rails in a test-driven way, students will get used to writing tests as they code. By getting into the rhythm of "red, green, refractor" (which refers to starting with a failing test, making it pass, then improving it while continuing to pass), we hope students will find it easier to develop their own projects TDD style. To learn more about the upcoming virtual training taking place January 24-27, check out the Zero to Rails 3 registration site. If you have questions, shoot us an email at training at engineyard dot com.

January Contest: Ride4Ruby »

Created at: 11.01.2011 04:29, source: Engine Yard Blog, tagged: Contests training zero to rails 3

At the DreamForce conference last month, SalesForce's CEO, Mark Benioff, called Ruby the "Language of the Cloud." On the show floor, I had dozens of conversations with Java developers about Ruby, and Ruby on Rails. Many of them ended up taking our Zero to Rails 3 class later that month. In the spirit of increasing the momentum of Ruby on Rails, we have scheduled another Zero to Rails 3 class on January 24th. We are also running another contest. The prize is an Engine Yard t-shirt. For a peek at the Engine Yard crew modeling our new shirts, check out photos from Deploy Day posted to our Facebook page. Contest Scenario Every year, a handful of brave cyclists embark on cross-country bike rides to raise funds for various philanthropies. Imagine you are going on an Engine Yard sponsored Ride4Ruby. The planned route hops from city to city, in search of every Ruby Street in the United States, according to Google Maps. To win a shirt, you must do the following:

1. Using Ruby, iterate over the list of states found here (cut and paste into an array)
2. For each state, send a request to http://maps.google.com
3. The requests should be as follows:http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?q={state}%20Ruby%20Street&output=xml&key={your google key}
4. Parse your results
5. Find the city, state, and zip code of the farthest eastern, and farthest western locations
6. Find the distance between these cities.
7. Make a request to:http://maps.google.com/maps/api/directions/xml?origin={eastern location}&destination={western location}&sensor=false@key={your google key}
8. Remove your google keys from your code to protect them
9. Share the code in a gist (https://gist.github.com/).
10. Follow @engineyard on Twitter
11. Tweet the following: