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Polymorphic Association (revised)
Episode #154May 19, 201299 comments

Polymorphic Association (revised)

A polymorphic association allows a model to belong_to different types of other models. Here I show how to make a single comment model belong to articles, photos, and events. (11 minutes)
A Tour of State Machines
Episode #392Nov 17, 201293 comments

A Tour of State Machines

Here I show how three popular state machine gems can be used to clean up a list of boolean/datetime fields. I also show a custom solution which keeps track of the history of events. (12 minutes)
STI and Polymorphic Associations
Episode #394Nov 25, 201281 comments

STI and Polymorphic Associations

Single Table Inheritance (STI) can help organize branching logic into separate classes, but a polymorphic association may be a better fit if there are unique database columns. (14 minutes)
Active Record Reputation System
Episode #364Jul 09, 2012105 comments

Active Record Reputation System

If you need to calculate an average user's rating or sum up a number of votes, consider using the activerecord-reputation-system gem. Here I will cover the basics and also briefly present a from-scratch solution. (10 minutes)
Migrating to PostgreSQL
Episode #342Apr 17, 2012137 comments

Migrating to PostgreSQL

Postgres is a feature-packed relational database that every Rails developer should consider using. Here you will learn how to install it, add it to a new application, and transition from an existing SQLite app using the "taps" gem. (8 minutes)
Full-Text Search in PostgreSQL
Episode #343Apr 17, 2012131 comments

Full-Text Search in PostgreSQL

Postgres offers full-text searching right out of the box. This episode shows how to write queries from scratch, apply tools like Texticle and pg_search, and optimize performance through indexes. (16 minutes)
Virtual Attributes (revised)
Episode #16Jul 20, 201271 comments

Virtual Attributes (revised)

Virtual attributes are a clean way to add form fields that do not map directly to the database. Here I show how to handle validations, associations, and more. (11 minutes)
Hacking with Arel
Episode #355May 30, 201270 comments

Hacking with Arel

Here I show a variety of ways to rewrite a long SQL query using only Active Record and Arel. This includes generating scopes dynamically, adding an "or" operator, and adding a powerful "match" method. (15 minutes)
Squeel
Episode #354May 30, 201269 comments

Squeel

Squeel provides a comprehensive DSL for writing SQL queries in Ruby. It is built upon Arel giving you access to many of its powerful features. (9 minutes)
HABTM Checkboxes (revised)
Episode #17Dec 22, 201194 comments

HABTM Checkboxes (revised)

A many-to-many association can be edited through check boxes in a form. Here I show how to do this with a has_many through association complete with clickable labels. (6 minutes)