#RailsConf starts for real with Chad Fowler from Living Social and Ben Scofield from Heroku at the podium. They start with a few questions. They discover there are many new attendees, and a few all the way back from 2006. Also, many were sent by their companies. Yay!

A few annoucements… BohConf is said to be the un-conference to end all un-conferences. RSVP for the Change.org happy hour tonight. Later on attend Ruby Heroes awards and Bird of a Feather (BOF) sessions.

Video presentation for DonorsChoose.org, whose mission is to change the world for a child. Every badge holder includes a $25 gift card to get started donating. Not sure how that works yet…

Chad and Ben introduce David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), creator of Rails. He’ll focus on features new to Rails 3.1, in particular Asset Pipeline.

He was unhappy with the many javascript files used in BaseCamp. They’re useful, but were a javascript junk drawer that needed to be managed better. His rule of thumb “> 13 = :-(“! javascript_include_tag solved the problem of loading the files quickly for the user, but didn’t improve management of the codebase.

The solution in Ruby on Rails 3.1 is to add app/assets, lib/assets, and vendor/assets empty folder. Each contains folders for images, stylesheets, and javascripts. This structure creates a place for everything.

Bundler will assist in management of assets from gems and plugins. For example, the jquery-rails gem version will be managed in Gemfile. Oh BTW, jquery-rails is the new default for Rails, but switching back to Prototype is as easy as saying gem ‘prototype-rails’. Things such as Blueprint CSS could be bundled up and manged this way as well. No mention of if there’s a gem yet.

The change in javascript and the inclusion of CoffeeScript has generated lengthy and passionate discussion on GitHub. DHH recommends reading the thread, but also encourages participants to “chill the fuck out”.

CoffeeScript is a language that compiles into javascript, with somewhat less code written.

Sass is also included in Rails 3.1. It’s a pre-processor for stylesheets, and was created alongside HAML, which DHH has not embraced. Sass looks much like CSS, but includes variable and nesting. It can be combined with erb to use Ruby in Sass to write CSS. Nice!

DHH emphasizes that Rails will continue to include defaults. You don’t have to stay with the defaults! Sass and CoffeeScript are included in the Gemfile, but not in the Rails gem dependencies.

There is a new rake task called assets:precompile to help performance. Compiled assets filenames include an MD5 hash instead of tagging a request with a timestamp. The is less disruptive to deploy and works better with caching. JS and CSS compression now happen automatically.

Rails 3.1 Release Candidate will appear THIS WEEK during RailsConf.

DHH moved quickly through a few other topics.

BaseCamp mobile is now using Cinco. Backend uses Rails as an API. Frontend uses JavaScript with it’s own MVC framework. DHH fears this won’t promote good integration between frontend and backend long term. More to the point, he feels it promotes separate teams. node.js is another possibility, but not attractive to DHH.

Pjax is used to render new content in your page frame without re-rendering the layout, resulting in a speed increase. DHH is already using it, and expects to include it in Rails at some point.

Backbone.js is used for javascript heavy apps to create MVC-ish data structures in the browser and coordinate well with your existing app.

That’s it.

#RailsConf tutorial day was a great success. I’m say it with confidence because unlike my last RailsConf in 2008 almost everyone in on Twitter, and no problem goes unreported. So except for minor wi-fi issues and a few comments on chilly temps, the day went off without a hitch. I’m sure the organizers were scrambling behind the scenes, so good job!

The evening events didn’t disappoint. Ignite RailsConf didn’t get rolling until 7pm, but once the flow started it was one great talk after another. Some talks were technical, some addressed life balance, but the recurring theme was community. We have an amazing group of people who make the Ruby on Rails community what is it today.

After Ignite wrapped up there ensued a mad dash for taxi cabs, as Max’s Taphouse held the promise of an open bar on Engine Yard’s dime. After overfilling the upstairs areas reserved for us, we spread downstairs and took over the entire establishment. I didn’t hear the damage on the tab, but all who attended owe a big thanks to Engine Yard!

As Day 1 begins I’m sure there are some interesting stories to hear from Max’s. There could also be stories of last night from the stage this morning, as rumor has it that DHH’s evening didn’t go entirely according to plan.

The conference begins this morning at 9am. If you aren’t here, you can view the video stream, and of course I’ll be posting updates as well.

Notes from #RailsConf tutorial by Gregg Pollack from Envy Labs. Great presentation on a sometimes contentious subject, with an easy to follow slide deck. Useful advice for journeyman and above coders, and some great ‘discussion starters’ as well.

Made excellent use of the CodeSchool Ruby Best Practices course, which was free to attendees of the talk. Pretty slick stuff. Worth checking out CodeSchool even if this isn’t the course for you.

Note that many of the techniques presented use new Rails 3 goodness and won’t apply in older version.

An overview, with a few observations:

• Use fat controller/skinny model to maintain good linkage between model data and methods performed on it.
• Use named scope to keep complex queries out of controller code, including examples using default_scope, unscoped, and why/when you need to use lambda.
• Ruby 1.9 block can include defaults, e.g.

  scope :trending, lambda { |num = nil| where('started_trending > ?', 1.day.ago) }

• Several ways to reduce code duplication for find methods in RESTful controllers. Slides reasoned via circular logic. Needed to use KISS method here.
• Use accepts_nested_attributes_for to simplify controller logic on nested forms.
• Example of using a non-Rails class capable of taking the place of an ActiveRecord model for items such as a contact form.
• Use presenter classes to clean up controllers that must do many different find, by making each find into a presenter method and instantiating the presenter using the ‘master’ object the controller is acting on.
• Use ActiveSupport::Memoizable instead of things like:

  @cache ||= Model.find_by_foo('bar')

• Be smart about indexing. Avoid adding unneeded indexes. In fact, I say don’t add them without real-world usage pattern to prove you need it.
• Use attr_protected, or better yet attr_accessible
• Let the database handle default value by putting them in your migrations.
• Gave examples good use of callbacks and more concise validations.
• Talked about db/seed.rb. He’s a fan. I’m not so sure.
• Avoid using find in a loop. Use :includes instead.
• Use counter_cache when needed for performance.
• Use #find_each to perform long-running tasks in batches of 1000.
• Override #to_s where appropriate instead of something like #display_name.
• Getting the queries out of your views and into your controllers.
• Using helpers to generate proper html in a dry fashion.
• Good examples of using partials cleanly.
• Really interesting stuff on use of yield and content_for in layouts and views.

Need to emphasize again the slide deck was outstanding. It doesn’t contain the hilarious sound effects, but well worth reviewing.

Monday marks the beginning of RailsConf 2011 in Baltimore. It’s the largest conference of the year for Ruby on Rails developers, with projected attendance of 1200+.

RailsConf 2011

Co-presented by O’Reilly and Ruby Central, the conference features:

• Four entire days dedicated to Ruby on Rails
• A program designed around all levels of expertise from beginner to intermediate to advanced
• The most innovative and successful Rails experts and companies showcased onstage
• A forum for people seeking to collaborate and solve similar problems
• A gathering place for the worldwide Rails community, including an important network of experts, alpha geeks, and innovators
• Hands-on and in-depth guides for learning how to best employ Rails in a variety of situations and tackle common problems
• Ample opportunities for all participants to connect, contribute, and collaborate throughout the event
• The chance to hear the latest updates, get information, and meet some of the the Rails core development team

Highlights

Monday

The daytime is primarily devoted to training, with morning and afternoon sessions for novice and experienced developers alike. It also marks the beginning of the parallel BohConf, the official unconference of RailsConf 2011.

At night the fireworks start with Ignite RailsConf. 15 speakers, 5 minutes and 20 slides each, with an after-party sponsored by EngineYard.

Tuesday

The conference begins for real. Morning keynote by David Heinemeier Hansson aka DHH (37 Signals). Evening keynote by Eric Ries (Lessons Learned). The schedule runs from 9am-8pm, followed by Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions until 10pm.

Social events include the Change.org Happy Hour (free tickets), and the @BlueBox @NewRelic @PivotalLabs gathering at Alewife 9-11pm.

Wednesday

Another solid 9am-8pm day. Morning keynotes by Nic Williams (EngineYard) and Aaron Patterson (AT&T Interactive). Evening plenary with Guy Steele (Oracle Labs) and Richard Gabriel (IBM Research).

The party of the evening is possibly the GitHub drinkup, 8:30pm at Pratt Street Ale House across the street from the convention center.

Thursday

The final day of the conference, from 9am-4pm. Morning plenaries with Aaron Batalion (LivingSocial), Corey Haines (Corey Haines), and Dan Melton (Code for America). Closing keynotes by Glenn Vanderburg (LivingSocial) and Chad Dickerson (Etsy). Today is also the last day of BohConf.

Full Schedule

These are only the highlights, so here’s the full schedule. RailsConf 2011 keeps 5 rooms busy in every time slot, and there are opportunities to learn in every one. Highly recommended if you’re a Ruby on Rails developer.

RailsConf 2011 Live Blog

I’ll be posting frequently throughout the 4 days of RailsConf. Subscribe via Facebook, RSS, or Twitter to hear the latest revelations from DHH and find out which booths give away the coolest swag!