Just a little tip for those wanting to learn RoR.

1. Tutorials and in-depth guides online are essentially non-existent. Go out and get Agile Web Development. Sometimes you can find the PDF version alone for a good discount.

2. Agile Web Development version 2.0 uses Rails 1.2.3. If you try to go through the demos with the latest Rails, you'll come across a lot of problems. Before starting a new rails project, do this:

gem install -v=1.2.3 rails

rails _1.2.3_ pojectName

You should now be able to follow the book.

I have personally used a few AJAX frameworks. Here is my view on some of the major players: YUI, GWT, jQuery, and Scriptaculous

1. YUI has been object-oriented to the point of uselessness. Everything requires YAHOO.blah.blah.blah(YAHOO.EventUtil.blah.blah.blah), and then they want you to have another line with YAHOO.AddListener.blah.blah(yourFunction) to add it to the execution list. I like objects. Wait, let me clarify, I like MY objects! I stopped doing what they asked and starting writing wrapper functions to their functions.

There are lots of good free tools out there to help a web developer. With the list below, you do not need to spend a lot of money on Adobe Dreamweaver or PhotoShop to create a nice looking website. Before you buy, visit these sites, and give them a try.