Introduction

In the previous chapter, we were introduced to the Ruby on Rails framework and how the MVC pattern helps us to create a modular web application. We also learned about the fundamentals of the Rails framework, the anatomy of a Rails application, how to save data in a database, how to interact with data using views, and how to test Ruby on Rails code using the Rails console.

In this chapter, we will dive deep into more advanced topics, such as creating associations between models using Active Record association. Like everything else, Rails has built-in helper methods to assist us. Associations are very commonly used in real-world applications. If we take the example of the citireview application from the previous chapter, we can easily see a relation between a review and its comments. These are joints that link one model to another with the use of primary and foreign keys. We will learn about six types of such associations provided by Rails.

Then, we will understand...