Hampton Catlin

Written by Sass creator Hampton Catlin and Michael Lintorn Catlin, Pragmatic Guide to Sass shows you how to you to improve your CSS, from the basics to advanced topics, from first installation to sprucing up your buttons. You'll see how to code the right way in Sass thanks to short, clear examples. Two-page spreads show the explanation on one side and code examples on the other. You'll learn how to improve your pages in minutes. You'll be able to perform amazing feats of CSS including using variables, calculating layouts, and modifying colors. Did you ever want to make a color 10% less saturated? We'll show you how to do that without needing a calculator. Plus, learn about Compass, Sass's library of carefully built hacks, reusable parts, and frameworks. Find out how to shortcut cross-browser issues and develop mixins for shortening text and making lists more exciting. You'll wonder how you spent all those years styling sites without it! Make things even easier with Blueprint, and discover how to use its predefined classes that you can apply to your Web site. From selector scoping to bundling, debugging, and designing custom functions, Pragmatic Guide to Sass will help you build the pages you've always wanted. What You Need: * An installation of Sass and Compass * Some basic command line knowledge

Beginning Rails is the practical starting point for anyone wanting to learn how to build dynamic web applications using the Rails framework for Ruby. You'll learn how all of the components of Rails fit together and how you can leverage them to create sophisticated web applications with less code and more joy. This book is particularly well suited to those with little or no experience with web application development, or who have some experience but are new to Rails. Beginning Rails assumes basic familiarity with web terms and technologies, but doesn't require you to be an expert. Topics include: A gentle introduction to the Ruby programming language Installing Ruby and Rails on a Mac, Linux, or Windows system The philosophy behind Rails and why it matters The Model-View-Controller architecture The basics of relational databases and SQL Setting up a MySQL database and creating a schema with migrations Experimenting with your live application in the Rails console Creating rich relationships between your models Using controllers and templates properly Leveraging helpers to keep your templates clean and logic free Adding Ajax and visual effects to enrich your user interfaces JavaScript with Prototype and script.aculo.us How to send and receive mail from your application Using and creating your own plug-ins Ensuring your code against Murphy's Law through writing tests Using Capistrano to deploy your application Rather than delving into the arcane details of Rails, the focus is on the aspects of the framework that will become your pick, shovel, and axe. Part history lesson, part introduction to object-oriented programming, and part dissertation on open source software, Beginning Rails doesn't just explain how to do something in Rails, it explainswhy. Every programmer fondly remembers the book that helped them get started. The goal of Beginning Rails is to become that book for you, today.