Pricing and Dates

$1195 Alumni and Groups of 5+
$1495 Early Bird! (thru Jan 5)
$1795 Regular

Would you like us to notify you about the next Rails course?

Learn how to build high-quality web applications—fast!—from two experienced Rails developers and authors in this 3-day, hands-on training course.

  • Get a jump start and gain confidence to build your own web applications using Ruby on Rails.
  • Learn all the major features of the latest version of Rails, and how to put them together to build dynamic web applications like the pros.
  • Save time and frustration by focusing exclusively on Rails development for three days with expert guidance at one of Denver's premier training facilities.

You'll come away from this Studio with the confidence to build your own Rails applications: from idea to deployment. You'll have learned a new web framework and a new way of building web applications. You'll have added another set of powerful tools to your toolbox—you'll have made a valuable investment in your career!

“I was extremely impressed with the training from beginning to end. The registration and setup process was super easy, the facility was first rate (food was awesome), they are outstanding teachers, and the subject material was very interesting.”

—Chris Bischoff

Who Teaches the Studio?

Dave Thomas and Chad Fowler. This Studio is taught by programmers for programmers. Learn directly from two authors of the premier references for Rails who have developed and deployed several real-world Rails applications:

Dave Thomas is the co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer, Programming Ruby, and Agile Web Development with Rails. Along with Andy Hunt, they run The Pragmatic Programmers.

Chad Fowler is a well-known author and Ruby and Rails trainer and consultant. As a co-founder of Ruby Central, he is a leading contributor and frequent speaker in the Ruby community. Chad is the author of Rails Recipes and CTO of InfoEther.

What Will I Learn?

Dave Thomas and student

How to rapidly build dynamic web applications. Through a series of lecture, hands-on exercises, and discussion, you'll learn the fundamentals of building Rails applications from the ground up. Topics include:

  • Getting Started with Ruby: Ruby is the programming language that powers Rails. We'll give you an introduction to the syntax and concepts so you can easily transition from your other OO language.
  • MVC Design: Design maintainable web applications by creating decoupled models, views, and controllers.
  • Action Pack: Route incoming HTTP requests and render HTML pages using view templates, forms, partials, layouts, and helpers.
  • Active Record: Connect models and databases using validations, one-to-many and many-to-many associations, custom methods, and manage your database schema with migrations.
  • Authentication: Remember logged-in users across requests using sessions and implementing filters.
  • REST and Routing: Understand the RESTful conventions and create custom routes to make your URLs unique
  • AJAX: Add a dash of Ajax to spice up your web application and improve the usability.
Two Students
  • Testing: Change your code confidently by writing unit and functional tests that watch your back.
  • Deployment: Explore various deployment scenarios and automate the deployment process using Capistrano.
  • Stay Agile: Learn how to rapidly create web applications using an incremental and iterative (agile) development style
  • And Much More!... practical tips, tricks, and techniques used by the experts to work efficiently and build full-featured Rails applications

In addition to the prepared topics, you'll have time to ask questions and spark discussions with other like-minded folks.

Who’s It For?

Web application programmers. This Studio will be a good fit for you if...

  • You’re currently programming in an object-oriented language (Ruby, Java, C#, Python, etc.)
  • You have a working knowledge of relational databases
  • You haven't had a chance to try using Ruby or Rails yet
  • You find yourself copy/pasting magical Ruby code to get Rails working
  • You’ve started building a Rails application, but need help putting all the pieces together

If you’ve already built a Rails application and you're comfortable with the fundamentals, then consider attending the Advanced Rails or Advanced Ruby Studios.

(Sorry, this Studio is not a good fit for web designers whose programming experience is solely HTML/CSS.)

What's a Studio Like?

Interactive Learning. You'll learn in a significantly different way in a Studio than by reading through the books. Attending a Studio complements what you may have read, but in a hands-on, collaborative environment where you'll:

  • get your questions answered by the experts and your peers
  • learn through hands-on programming exercises
  • discuss up-to-date topics, tips, and tricks
  • discover new techniques in live coding sessions
  • reinforce the concepts you've learned in the books

We think Studio offers the best developer training around. But don't take our word for it. Just ask our alumni. Check out their reviews and applications they've built! The Studio experience continues after the Studio with our private alumni mailing list.

“Certainly one of the best training experiences I've ever had...The materials are good, the guys are experts and the entire thing was fun—which is hard to say about any training program.”

—Hunter Hillegas

What Should I Bring?

Prag Studio Attendees

You and Your Laptop. It wouldn't be a hands-on course if you didn't walk away having written some code. You'll be most productive on the laptop you use regularly. (On average, 60% of attendees bring Mac OS X, 30% bring Windows, and 10% bring Linux.)

A few weeks before the Studio, we'll send out detailed instructions for installing everything you'll need. During the Studio, you'll get hands-on experience working through prepared exercises, and experimenting on your own, too.

Your Registration Includes

  • A continental breakfast, continuous beverages and snacks, and a hot lunch buffet each day
  • A binder with all the printed material
  • All the example source code to refer back to later
  • Internet connectivity and power during the Studio
  • An invitation to our alumni-only mailing list for help after the Studio
  • Discounts on books, screencasts, and future training
  • A stylish Pragmatic Studio t-shirt and more!

Register