5 Rails-related blogs (and one podcast) to follow
As
a part of my ongoing series about how I work with Ruby on
Rails, I'd like to share
with you my top Rails-related feeds. Unfortunately, Ruby on Rails blogs
tend to not always last long. Here are five I find useful–as well as a
podcast anyone serious about getting into RoR development shouldn't
miss.
- Riding Rails: The official Rails blog–important for keeping track of general Rails-related news like upcoming releases, conferences, etc.
- Rails Envy: An excellent source for news about emerging Rails and Ruby projects such as frameworks, engines, and plugins. Yes, I know it's also a podcast, but I have trouble focusing on audio-only podcasts, so I just follow the text-based RSS feed. It gives me all the relevant notes and links.
- Ruby Inside: Less news, I'd say, and more feature-type stories and how-tos. Less Rails-specific than the others.
- Ruby on Rails Plugins: OK, it's not a blog, but it is a useful RSS feed for Agile Web Development's directory of Rails plugins.
- Jim Neath: Sporadically updated but always useful–Jim's Rails tutorials (and work on projects like Bort) are excellent resources for anyone looking to use Rails for social networking applications or media sites (or sneaking in some social features to an otherwise drab online service).
- Railscasts: Ryan Bates' weekly podcast is a highlight of my Monday mornings. Each week, Ryan explains a Rails technique. His presentation style should be modeled by anyone doing how-to screencasts, and the show notes and associated comments are invaluable as after-the-fact references.
There are a few others in my OPML file, but they're either not updated much or there's so much overlap with other blogs I don't feel the need to read them both. Unfortunately, for the most part they look to be abandoned.
I know there are plenty more out there, so speak up–what am I missing?
. Questions or comments? Let me know what you think.