Javascript for Rails Developers

For decades Ruby on Rails devs have shrugged at JavaScript, cursed at it or vowed to never use it again. But over the years, JavaScript has improved greatly. And if you want to write modern (SaaS) web apps today, there is almost no way around it.

Sure, the Hotwire tools help you tremendously to write as little JavaScript as possible, but if you want something more bespoke, you need to write JavaScript (powered by Stimulus) by hand.

This short and focused book (~31,000 words / ~7 hours of reading) will help you, Ruby on Rails developer, become more comfortable writing JavaScript that is as great-looking as your Ruby code and understand the JavaScript written by others. It won't cover React or Vue (or any of the other thousands available JS frameworks), but about writing and understanding JavaScript used in Stimulus controllers.

The book goes from zero to a functional code editor in your Rails app throughout various, easy to digest chapters. This will cover everything from working with a dependency (CodeMirror) in Stimulus, to extracting logic in smaller classes, refactoring to be more readable and using more advanced and modern syntax and integrating WebSockets (using Action Cable).

If you have been a Rails developer who has cursed at JavaScript, this book might be for you. If you've been a Rails developer avoiding JavaScript at all costs, this book is what you need. For Rails developers who've wished JavaScript would just disappear, this book might change your mind.