RailsApps

I’m planning changes to the rails_apps_composer gem.

Rails Apps Composer is a gem with recipes to create Rails application templates you can use to generate Rails starter apps. It creates ready-to-run Rails web applications and makes it easy to create and maintain a starter app.

If you use the gem, please take a poll to let me know whether the app is useful or needs improvements. You can also make suggestions for improvements.

The rails_apps_composer gem is at the core of the RailsApps project. It generates the application templates and, in turn, the example apps. The rails_apps_composer gem is used by dozens of developers to maintain their own starter apps as well as starter apps from the RailsApps project. Maintaining the rails_apps_composer gem is key to keeping the example apps and tutorials current as the ecosystem of gems (and Rails itself) evolves. Right now, the gem is difficult to use, largely because it is structured around recipes that combine various popular gems with code that tweaks templates to accommodate each gem’s particular requirements. Frankly, the recipes are difficult to read and poorly organized. I intend to develop a rails_apps_composer version 2.0 that restructures the recipes and moves most of the code tweaking out of the recipes and into downloaded template files.

Here’s what I plan for rails_apps_composer 2.0:

• improve the “quiz” that sets up the starter app
• offer recipes for more complex and fully functional starter apps
• base recipes on functionality (authentication, testing) instead of gems (Devise, RSpec)
• reduce the manipulation of files with ‘gsub’ and use more downloaded template files
• make it easier for developers to understand the code and make contributions
• generate a README for any starter app that shows which gems are used

Please make suggestions for improvements you’d like to see.

You can see the poll results here.