This page provides setup information to get you up and running for Rails, Android, and iOS development.
Windows developers need to ensure their text editor is set to use the LF
line ending, instead of the Windows-default of CRLF. See
this post
for background information. This does not apply to Windows developers
programming from within a Linux virtual machine.
Git is a tool that we use to track changes we make to our code (version control) and share it with others. We also use GitHub, a website which makes it even easier to share and discuss our code. You’ll need to create a free account on GitHub; paid accounts offer extra features, like private repositories no one else can see.
Next, follow the GitHub setup guide to set up git on your computer. Note: There are different instructions for Linux, Mac, and Windows. Follow the right one, especially if you’ll be developing within a Linux virtual machine!
There are many great text editors for software development. We recommend SublimeText, Atom, or Vim.
For OS-specific information to jump right in to the setup process, please see the GoRails Setup Guide. Mac users should consult our documentation in case errors are encountered.
Windows users should seriously consider setting up Ubuntu Linux in VirtualBox; it will be easier that way.
The database backend we use for Rails is called MySQL. The database stores information for web apps which can be used in the future, i.e., it is persistent storage (not a temporary cache).
You may use MySQL 5.x, or the open source fork MariaDB version 5.x. Do not use MariaDB 10.x; the database structure has changed and is no-longer 100% compatible with Oracle’s MySQL.
We use rbenv to install Ruby, as it allows us to define specific versions of Ruby for use within each project (as opposed to one, “global” version of Ruby which every app has to use). You can follow this guide to set up Rails quickly.
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