What this book covers

Chapter 1, Getting Started with Shopify, covers the basic functionality of Shopify and then explains the difference between private and public apps. A brief overview of the API and webhook systems is provided. The chapter then wraps up with a few thoughts on how to get started with building an app.

Chapter 2, Setting Up, focuses on setting up the reader's development environment, installing Ruby, Rails, and a few other requisite Gems. It shows us how to create a standard Rails site, update it with Twitter Bootstrap, and check it with source control. The chapter wraps up with instructions on how to deploy to Heroku for scalable web hosting.

Chapter 3, Building a Private App, covers the integration with Shopify's API in order to retrieve product and order information from the shop. The UI is then streamlined a bit before the logic to create a contest is created.

Chapter 4, Going Public, shows us how to refactor the existing app to support multiple Shopify accounts simultaneously. It then shows us how to hook into the installation process as well as how to subscribe and process webhooks.

Chapter 5, App Billing and Publication, completes the app by adding a free and paid plan and demonstrates how to setup a recurring charge via the Shopify Billing API. The chapter wraps up by explaining the process for publishing the app in the App Store so that the storeowners can install it automatically.