2.1. Active Record Basics

Martin Fowler cataloged the Active Record design pattern in a book called Patterns of Enterprise Architecture.^[*] The Rails framework is an implementation of that idea. With any Active Record implementation, users manipulate database tables through record objects. Each record represents a row in a database table, and each Active Record object has CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) methods for database access. This strategy allows simple designs and straightforward mappings between database tables and application objects.

^[*] Design patterns in Patterns of Enterprise Architecture appear in an online catalog. The Active Record pattern is defined at http://www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/activeRecord.html.

The Rails persistence framework is like Martin Fowler's Active Record on steroids. The Rails version adds some capabilities that extend Active Record. Table 2-1 shows a list of critical differences, followed by the benefit to the developer.

Table 2-1. Rails versus Active Record

Each Rails enhancement improves readability and reduces the amount of code that you have to write and maintain. You'll find Active Record to be all at once elegant, powerful, and pragmatic.

2.1.1. Wrapping, Not Mapping

With most Java-based persistence frameworks, you independently build a database table and an object. You then build a map between the two with code or XML configuration. We call this strategy object relational mapping (ORM). Java developers usually favor mapping because it can support many different kinds of database schemas. The drawback of ORM is that your code has more repetition because you need to specify each column in the database, in your object model, and often in configuration files, too.

But Active Record uses a wrapping strategy, not a mapping strategy. A Rails developer starts by building a relational database and wraps each table with an Active Record class. Each instance of the class represents a row of the database. The framework then automatically discovers columns from the database table, and dynamically adds them to the Active Record class. Using Active Record, you can build a simple mapping to a typical table in two lines of code.

2.1.2. A Brief Example

Let's look at a brief Active Record example and walk through the highlights. Then, we'll implement a working Active Record model, and walk through the finer points in more detail. Consider the following Active Record class, which associates many photos to a category:

class Photo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :category
end

This Active Record class is surprisingly complete. There are only a few lines of configuration (versus dozens in a typical Java framework), and no duplication between the model and the schema. Let's break it down:

class Photo < ActiveRecord::Base

We define a class called Photo that's a subclass of the Base class in the ActiveRecord module. From naming conventions and the name Photo, Active Record knows that this class wraps a database table called photos. That information is enough to let Base query the database system tables for all the columns of photos. Base adds metadata from each column, such as column names, types, and lengths, to Photo. It then adds an attribute to Photo for each column in the database:

belongs_to :category

Here, you see an example of a domain-specific language (DSL). A DSL is created especially to handle a certain domain. This language supports object relational mapping. belongs_to is actually a method of Base, and :category is a Ruby symbol. We use this method to tell Active Record about a many-to-one relationship between Photo (which wraps the table photos) and Category (which wraps the table categories). THRough naming conventions, Base discovers the column responsible for managing the relationship. belongs_to then adds the methods and attributes to Photo that users of Book will need to manage the many-to-one relationship. For example, you'll learn later that each Photo object has an attribute called category. So this relationship is nearly trivial to implement, but it adds great power to Rails.

2.1.3. The Secret Sauce

Each great framework has one or more features that set it apart from the rest. The Rails implementation of Active Record uses a secret sauce composed of three revolutionary ideas:

Convention over configuration

Using Active Record, you'll adhere to a couple of conventions that we'll discuss through the course of the chapter. If you follow the conventions, Active Record can discover most of what it needs to know about the database schema, keeping your code simple and elegant.

Metaprogramming

Active Record discovers features of your database schema and automatically adds them to your object model. For example, Active Record automatically adds to your objects an attribute for every column in your database.

A language for mapping

Active Record uses Ruby to build a language in a language. You'll use a mapping language to specify relationships between your tables.

Each of these ideas is a dramatic departure from what you'd normally see with mapping frameworks. The results, too, are dramatic. You'll find yourself creating more powerful persistent models with less effort than ever before. Let's get to work and see how Active Record works.