# Rails Scaffold So you are about to start building your awesome web application. If you are reading this article, you are probably curious about the awesomeness of Ruby on Rails framework. Good for you! Let me take a moment and tell you about why Ruby on Rails is popular with the startup community. For starters let me point you to Airbnb, Twitter, Groupon, Indiegogo, SoundCloud, Zendesk and GitHub. All these great services ware built and ran on Ruby on Rails. Some of them, like Twitter, have since moved on to other stacks, but it was Rails that carried these startups from an idea to a fully featured service used by millions of users and funded by investors. It is the nature of the Ruby on Rails framework to change and evolve rapidly and as an entrepreneur you need to stay up to date with the web and new technologies. Facing continued change and development suits the very essence of a startup. If you’re new to Ruby on Rails, one of the most daunting aspects is knowing what’s the preferred way of accomplishing a given task. There are literally hundreds of coding practices or techniques that can make your life as a Ruby on Rails developer easier. In this article I will focus on how to set up a Rails 5.x application with some common frameworks for testing, test coverage metrics, Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. It is well outside the scope of this article to explain the benefits of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. If you're intrigued, start [here](http://www.agilemanifesto.org) and keep reading. Otherwise, here we goooooo.... ## Step-by-step to a scaffolded Rails app with Postgres, Travis, Coveralls and Heroku ### **Create repo on GitHub.** ![](/files/-L9huE10yPiZpUuewqbO) On your GH account crate a new public repository and include Rails `.gitignore` and optional `README`. Copy path to repo. ![](/files/-L9huE1sR2C3u7Zs9gTR) ### **Clone to your local machine.** `git clone REPO_PATH` locally where you want your project to live. ### **Create a new Rails app.** In this setup we will use Postgres in order to be able to deploy to Heroku. We will also skip test because we're going to use Cucumber and RSpec instead of Minitest and skip the bundle for now because we're going to add a bunch of gems. We will use a variant of the `new`command that adds a `.` . This creates the app in the current folder and uses the folder name as application name. Run `rails new . --database=postgresql --skip-test --skip-bundle` in your terminal Say `n` to overwrite `.gitignore` (and `README`) ![](/files/-L9huE3be9M-77phD54W) ### **Setup a branch structure** Switch to a development branch so you can keep your `master` branch clean. (We'll populate it later as we accept code into our production copy). Run `git checkout -b develop` in your terminal ### **Sync with GH** Stage your new files for version control: `git add .` Make your first commit: ``` git commit -m 'scaffolds new rails application' ``` ![](/files/-L9huE4u2cGpQd_pfH6s) You can also push to your remote repo on GitHub at this stage: ``` git push origin develop ``` ![](/files/-L9huE5RVxC9jzHq6p4l) ### **Clean up code** In `Gemfile` you will find a lot of gems added by the framework. Most of them are useful and important byt there's also a lot of content we don't need. Delete comments and everything in `:development, :test` group. Only delete the Windows gem at the bottom of `Gemfile` if you're not working in Windows Your `Gemfile` should look something like this: ```ruby source 'https://rubygems.org' git_source(:github) do |repo_name| repo_name = "#{repo_name}/#{repo_name}" unless repo_name.include?("/") "https://github.com/#{repo_name}.git" end gem 'rails', '~> 5.1.1' gem 'pg', '~> 0.18' gem 'puma', '~> 3.7' gem 'sass-rails', '~> 5.0' gem 'uglifier', '>= 1.3.0' gem 'turbolinks', '~> 5' gem 'jbuilder', '~> 2.5' group :development, :test do end group :development do gem 'web-console', '>= 3.3.0' gem 'listen', '>= 3.0.5', '< 3.2' gem 'spring' gem 'spring-watcher-listen', '~> 2.0.0' end ``` ### **Adding dependencies** Add the following gems to your `Gemfile`: ```ruby group :development, :test do gem 'rspec-rails' gem 'shoulda-matchers' gem 'factory_girl_rails' gem 'pry' gem 'pry-byebug' gem 'cucumber-rails', require: false gem 'database_cleaner' gem 'coveralls', require: false end ``` #### Gem descriptions | Gem | Description | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | | [Rspec](https://github.com/rspec/rspec-rails) | Unit testing | | [Shoulda Matchers](https://github.com/thoughtbot/shoulda-matchers) | Testing matchers for Rspec | | [Factory Girl](https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_girl) | Easy creation of new table entries | | [Pry](https://github.com/pry/pry) | Debugging | | [Pry-Byebug](https://github.com/deivid-rodriguez/pry-byebug) | Allows you to step through debugger | | [Cucumber](https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber-rails) | Acceptance testing | | [DatabaseCleaner](https://github.com/DatabaseCleaner/database_cleaner) | Wipes the database after tests | | [Coveralls](https://github.com/lemurheavy/coveralls-ruby) | Integration with Coveralls service | ### **More cleaning** In `config/application.rb` remove comments and inside `class Application` add: ```ruby config.generators do |generate| generate.helper false generate.assets false generate.view_specs false generate.helper_specs false generate.routing_specs false generate.controller_specs false end ``` Also, search for the following comment and setting and remove it: ```ruby # Don't generate system test files. config.generators.system_tests = nil ``` Here we're turning off a bunch of auto-generators for things we'll be creating while we build the app. We've turned them all off, but we might want to leave some on if our project is complex or if we are going to have a lot of helpers, etc. ### **Install dependencies** Run `bundle install`. That installs any missing gems and creates your `Gemfile.lock` to reference them. ### Create your database Run the following commands to create your database and prepare it for use. ``` rails db:create rails db:migrate ``` ### **Install and configure testing frameworks** **Install Rspec** (for unit testing) with: ``` bundle exec rails generate rspec:install ``` Configure the terminal output to show test messages rather than green or red dots when RSpec run: In the hidden file `.rspec`, add: `--format documentation` Run `bundle exec rspec`. This should work now and return no errors (and also no tests, because you haven't written any) **Install Cucumber** (for acceptance testing) with: ``` bundle exec rails g cucumber:install ``` Run `bundle exec cucumber`. This should not error and find no examples ### **More cleaning - again** Remove unnecessary comments from `rails_helper` and `spec_helper`. In `rails_helper`, inside the `RSpec.configure` block add DatabaseCleaner bits: ```ruby config.before(:suite) do DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation) end config.around(:each) do |example| DatabaseCleaner.cleaning do example.run end end ``` Again in `rails_helper`, this time outside the `RSpec.configure` block, add ShouldaMatchers configuration: ```ruby Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config| config.integrate do |with| with.test_framework :rspec with.library :rails end end ``` ### **(Optional) Create pull request template for Github**: * `mkdir .github` * `touch .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md` Add : ``` PT Story: [paste Pivotal Tracker link here] Changes proposed in this pull request: [item 1 - replace me] [item 2 - replace me] What I have learned working on this feature: [If you don't put anything here you are doing it wrong!] Screenshots: [If you made some visual changes to the application please upload screenshots here, or remove this section] ``` ### **Continuous Integration** Bump over to Travis to setup Continuous Integration. ![](/files/-L9huEPjrVZ2dZ6GTPGp) Visit [Travis-ci.org](http://www.travis-ci.org): * Sign up or whatever you have to do. * Hit the little `+` next to `My Repositories` * Flip the switch on the repository you just created ![](/files/-L9huERp3_sV_Jy2Fkxe) Create a file in the root of your folder called `.travis.yml`. Add: ``` language: ruby rvm: - 2.4.0 before_script: - bundle exec rake db:create --all - bundle exec rake db:migrate script: - bundle exec rake ci:tests services: - postgresql notifications: email: false ``` (Obviously, if you are using a different version of Ruby, you will put that version under `rvm`. And if you want a thousand emails about your builds passing or failing, don't include the last two lines.) ### **Code Coverage** Create `lib/tasks/ci.rake`. We'll create a task to merge all test information and send it to coveralls. Add: ```ruby unless Rails.env.production? require 'rspec/core/rake_task' require 'cucumber/rake/task' require 'coveralls/rake/task' Coveralls::RakeTask.new namespace :ci do desc 'Run all tests and generate a merged coverage report' task tests: [:spec, :cucumber, 'coveralls:push'] end end ``` Create a file named `.simplecov` in root folder to bundle test coverage. Add: ```ruby SimpleCov.start 'rails' ``` Visit [coveralls.io](http://coveralls.io): * Sign up or login to your existing account. * Hit the plus sign, then flip the switch on your new repo. (You probably have to refresh to see it.) At the very top of `spec_helper`: ```ruby require 'coveralls' Coveralls.wear! ``` In `/features/support/env.rb`: Delete comments. Add: ```ruby require 'coveralls' Coveralls.wear_merged!("rails") ``` These four lines of code will generate code coverage reports for Coveralls. Access them on the Coveralls website. * Add `/coverage` to `.gitignore` The `rake` command will run both rspec and cucumber. This should pass with no errors but also with no examples (you have not added any tests yet…) ### **Continuous Deployment** If you haven't before, you'll need to install the [Heroku Toolbelt](https://toolbelt.heroku.com/), create an account on Heroku and `heroku login` with those credentials. Now run `heroku create APP_NAME` twice - once for a development server, once for a production server. (If you fail to specify an app name, Heroku will make one for you). The next step is to configure Travis to push to your Heroku servers when code is pushed to integrated by the service. Of course, Travis will not only deploy code directly pushed to your GitHub branches but also code merged in using Pull Requests. You need to obtain your secure Heroku key and encrypt it. If you've never used Travis before, you’ll have to istall the gem by running `gem install travis` in your terminal You can now ask Travis to make the necessary modifications to your `.travis.yml` file: ``` travis encrypt $(heroku auth:token) --add deploy.api_key ``` If that fails for you, grab your Heroku key manually with `heroku auth:token`, copy it, and run: `travis encrypt YOUR_HEROKU_KEY`. Open up your `.travis.yml` file and add: ``` deploy: provider: heroku api_key: secure: YOUR_SECURE_KEY app: develop: YOUR_DEVELOPMENT_APP master: YOUR_PRODUCTION_APP on: repo: YOUR_GITHUB_REPO run: - "rails db:migrate" ``` Format your repo like this: `YOUR_GITHUB_NAME/PROJECT_REPO`. This setup will deploy your application after a successful build at develop or master. That's about it. You now have a basic scaffold application and are ready to build some awesome shit! Work smart, stick to the outside-in testing process and have fun! **Happy coding!** --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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