Data Visualization Toolkit: Using JavaScript, Rails™, and Postgres to Present Data and Geospatial Information

Appendix A. Ruby and Rails Setup

This appendix is a brief overview of all the little things that go into getting your environment set up to run Rails and create your first Rails app. Feel free to skip around.

Install Ruby

I like to use RVM to manage my rubies. I really like having project-based configurations and settings. Some languages lend themselves really well to this, and some rely more on system-wide configurations.

RVM gemsets are the perfect way to create the isolation that I like. Rails does not strictly need that isolation. Gemfile.lock defines gem dependencies (with versions) so that when you do have multiple versions of a gem installed it will pick the right one.

Still, there have been times when I got some gem version messed up. ...