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Download a sample chapter or one-page checklist

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Strategic Planning

  • Refactoring the Client Relationship
  • Agility Rules
  • Setting Expectations
  • Where do You Go From Here?

2. The Opening Investigation

  • Before You Start: Source Code Management
  • Getting to "Run"
  • Dissecting the MVC
  • Judging the Tests
  • Investigating Deployment

3. Digging Into Quality

  • metric_fu to the Rescue
  • Looking at Logs
  • Reading Exceptions
  • Log File Analysis
  • Other Monitoring Tools

4. Database Rescues

  • Database Loading
  • Isolating Seed Data
  • Disposing of Procedural Migrations
  • Collapsing Migrations
  • Database Mismatch
  • Database Performance

5. Testing Rescues

  • Diagnosing the Problems
  • Step 1: Take out the Trash
  • Step 2: Make a Plan
  • Step 3: Don't Let it Get Worse
  • Step 4: Acceptance Tests
  • Step 5: Extending Coverage

6. Refactoring Rescues

  • A Word of Caution
  • To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade?
  • Slimming Down Controllers
  • Making Things RESTful
  • Breaking Up Models
  • Taming Data Types
  • Rescuing Views
  • Modernizing Code
  • Taming Plugins

7. Performance Rescues

  • Finding the Problems
  • Tackling View Performance Issues
  • Tackling Database Performance Issues

Appendix 1: Quick Review Checklist

Appendix 2: Preparing Yourself

Should be required reading for doing client work in Rails. No fluff or theory; packed with practical tips.

Joe Grossberg