What Does it do? ================ Compatible with Rails 3.0.x (Rails 3.1.x support is coming). backbonejs-rails is similar to [jquery-rails](https://github.com/JangoSteve/jquery-rails). It adds the Javascript files that you need to create an application that uses [backbone.js](http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/) as a JavaScript MVC. This gem will get the most recent version of these files from their master branches on github. These are: * backbone.js * backbone.min.js * underscore.js * underscore.min.js * json2.js For templates I have included [ICanHaz.js](http://icanhazjs.com/) * icanhaz.js * icanhaz.min.js Upon installation the files are added to your javascript defaults so that you can still use the following in your views/layouts/application.html.erb file: <%= javascript_include_tag :defaults %> What else? ---------- It also creates a file called "config/initializers/backbone.rb" which contains the line: ActiveRecord::Base.include_root_in_json = false Which is what you need to return JSON to Backbone the way it likes it. Otherwise you would need to do something like this: def create render :json => Person.create(:name => params[:name], :age => params[:age]) end Installation ------------ The best way to install backbonejs-rails is by adding the following to your Gemfile: gem "jquery-rails" gem "backbonejs-rails", "~> 0.0.3" Then use Bundler to install: $ bundle install Usage ------- $ rails g jquery:install $ rails g backbonejs:install If you have already installed jquery and removed prototype then you can skip that step. You can find my [screencast on Backbone.js and Rails 3 here](http://andrewgertig.com/2011/05/rails-backbone-js-example-screencast/)