If a dog year is 7 human years, then a Rails year is a lifetime.
Things keep changing—the core team add new features (and remove old ones...), and we all learn new idioms and patterns for writing Rails applications.
So the time has come to refresh Agile Web Development with Rails.
But this isn't a regular "dust off the API" update. This one's big.
Because Sam Ruby (yes, he of the REST book fame) has come on board, and will be shepherding this new edition through to its final form.
So far, he has gone through the Depot application chapters and updated them for Rails 2. Over time, the whole book will be getting the same treatment. Sam brings an incredible amount of experience to this, so we'll see a book full of fresh insights on writing totally up-to-date web applications.
We're in beta as of today. That means that you can buy the PDF now, and we'll update as new material becomes available. It's a blended beta, which means the second edition content is in there alongside the third edition—the new content has red page headings, the old gray. You can also get a discount of the paper book when it finally comes out if you buy the paper book as part of a combo pack.
Now, we know that some people want paper NOW! So we're trying an experiment. Most of the second edition book is still relevant to Rails 2, so we're making the second edition paper book available for purchase at 50% off. That way you can use it while waiting for the third edition to arrive.
And, if you bought the second edition from us in paper or PDF form within the last 45 days, log into your account on our site to receive a coupon for a free upgrade to the third edition.
Enjoy.
Dave