

From Learning Rails to Deploying a SaaS App in 7 Days - vu0tran
http://www.vutran.me/blog/from-learning-rails-to-deploying-a-saas-app-in-7-days/

======
mhartl
On a previous thread, [I
mentioned]([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5942320](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5942320))
that at some point I'm thinking about writing _Learn Enough Rails To Be
Dangerous_ to go along with the _Ruby on Rails Tutorial_ —but it looks like,
by using the _Rails Tutorial_ , you can already become plenty dangerous. ;-)

Seriously, though, this is cool, and every developer-entrepreneur should do
something like this just to get the experience of actually shipping a web app.

~~~
vu0tran
Ah, so you're the guy I have to thank.

I'll come back to the site eventually and finally get around to learning how
to write those unit tests. :)

~~~
bdcravens
I'd recommend purchasing the book and/or screencasts as your way of thanking
:-)

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zachgersh
This is the double edged sword that is Rails. It gives you enough to quickly
deploy a basic SaaS app and lull you into the false sense of security (it's so
easy to launch an app!).

Rushing through learning RoR and not a) learning Ruby and b) actually taking
your time to write some tests goes against what is arguably the best practice
for learning RoR properly.

Throwing together one app is a start down a path to learning RoR, it's not
actually "learning Ruby on Rails". They are two different things.

~~~
vu0tran
I agree. There's also:

c) GemHell

Where you're so captivated in all the shiny Ruby Gems that you don't take the
time to learn what they actually do.

~~~
prakster
Hey Vu,

I'm impressed. Would like some words of advice from you, as I am attempting
something similar but less ambitious. Ok to contact you via email?

~~~
vu0tran
Yeah! Of course. Just tweet at me and I can direct message you my contact
info.

@vu0tran

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bpatrianakos
I want to know why he spent no time listening to Kanye's new album? It's
amazing!!

Oh, and seven days? Really? Even with such a thorough explanation I have to
wonder how much time people have on their hands to buckle down and do this.
This can't be something that's done sporadically. Not in 7 days.

------
vu0tran
Woot, 2.19s end user browser load time. Significantly better than crashing and
burning this time around guys! Go dyno go!

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bdcravens
As someone about to launch first big Rails app (I've done small ones before):
given the timing of Rails 4, did you consider going Rails 4/Ruby 2 (I'm
assuming Rails 3.2, as Hartl's tutorial for 4 was in beta until 4's launch 2
days ago)

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wrsmith
The author's twitter account only has 160 some tweets but more than 19000
followers, a lot of which look like fake accounts...building the rails app is
a good use of time but it seems it wasn't actually used (who would need to
automates 100 tweets)?

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joonix
So, Django or Rails for someone who wants what you're recommending this for
(beginners with light coding background looking to build an app quickly)?

Is there something like that SaaSTemplate for Django?

~~~
tsurantino
You can just as easily program something like this with Django. One criticism
that you may encounter with Django is that it's not as extensible or have as
robust of a community. In terms of plugins, you'll need distinguish between
django specific plugins and just general python plugins.

For example, for Twitter - you'll encounter that there isn't necessarily a
one-size-fits-all Twitter plugin that's specific to Django. Instead, you might
need an authentication plugin which will store relevant Twitter information
(id, token) and then use a Python Twitter plugin to do the kind of neat stuff
the author has accomplished.

I prefer Django because it's more explicit and there is less magic. This is
also good for beginners because it's easier for you to track down where things
might be going wrong for you. Django might not have the best community-support
(no railscast equivalent).

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purephase
While this a great story, I'd focus more on what you shipped. I can see it
being a valuable service for people.

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um304
I don't know if I should ask, but I am curious to know if you made any money
with this app!

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ukd1
A single tear...

