Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Control pattern.

This pattern splits the view (also called the presentation) into “dumb” templates that are primarily responsible for inserting pre-built data in between HTML tags. The model contains the “smart” domain objects (such as Account, Product, Person, Post) that holds all the business logic and knows how to persist themselves to a database. The controller handles the incoming requests (such as Save New Account, Update Product, Show Post) by manipulating the model and directing data to the view.

In Rails, the model is handled by what’s called an object-relational mapping layer entitled Active Record. This layer allows you to present the data from database rows as objects and embellish these data objects with business logic methods. You can read more about Active Record in its README.

The controller and view are handled by the Action Pack, which handles both layers by its two parts: Action View and Action Controller. These two layers are bundled in a single package due to their heavy interdependence. This is unlike the relationship between the Active Record and Action Pack that is much more separate. Each of these packages can be used independently outside of Rails. You can read more about Action Pack in its README.

1. Install Rails at the command prompt if you haven’t yet:

   gem install rails
   

2. At the command prompt, create a new Rails application:

   rails new myapp
   

   where “myapp” is the application name.

3. Change directory to myapp and start the web server:

   cd myapp; rails server
   

   Run with --help for options.

4. Go to localhost:3000/ and you’ll see:

   "Welcome aboard: You're riding Ruby on Rails!"
   

5. Follow the guidelines to start developing your application. You can find the following resources handy:

• The README file created within your application.

• The Getting Started with Rails.

• The Ruby on Rails Tutorial.

• The Ruby on Rails guides.

• The API documentation.

We encourage you to contribute to Ruby on Rails! Please check out the Contributing to Rails guide for guidelines about how to proceed. Join us!

Ruby on Rails is released under the MIT license.