Tutorials
If you're looking for a good place to start, try the Absolute Moron's Guide to Capistrano.
Beginners
Github Guide to Deploying with Capistrano
Deploying without Source Control
Database Configuration
This, and other interesting solutions came up on this thread in the mailing list.
- Managing Your database.yml File
Custom Recipes
This method is what makes the railsless deploy gem possible:
- Packaging Recipes as Gems
Deploying Non-Rails Apps
There is an alternative deploy.rb file available as part of this gem which can be used as a drop-in replacement for the one that ships with Capistrano with all the rails-centric assumptions removed, there may be a time in the future this makes its way into the Capistrano core.