Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#1

Post by acpigeon » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:23 PM UTC

I would like to get some opinions on the value of taking a basic Ruby programming class.

About me: Recent Eng/Biz grad, want to eventually start my own company. I am much more of a business person than an engineer, yet having graduated from a top ten engineering school, I realize the value of understanding tech no matter what part of a startup you work on.

Because I am interested in the web tech space, I think it would be a valuable experience for me to take 6 week online crash course in Ruby in order for me to 1) be conversant in a very popular language in this space and 2) have the ability to do very rough mockups of product ideas, or at least understand what goes into building them, and 3) become more generally aware of peripheral issues in web tech and what goes into the development process.

I have taken C++ classes in the past (no HTML or CSS experience though), so programming itself is not new to me and I have no illusions about becoming some mad awesome programmer in a couple of weeks. I’m simply looking for a new perspective in seeking out and solving entrepreneurial problems.

I’d love to get some perspective from actual programmers and startup people on wisdom or tomfoolery of this idea. I am leaning towards going for it at this point, but might be dissuaded if the reasons are strong, or if better uses of my free time are proposed.

For the record, the class is cheap (I’m all ears.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#2

Post by pierrefar » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:50 PM UTC

For a $100, if you have the time do it. Even if Ruby doesn't end up being your favorite language, you'll still learn something new. At the very least, you'll learn The Way of Ruby to solve problems and that will improve your coding in many subtle ways. It's simply experience that paying $100 for is a bargain.

Besides, you might end up making new friends and contacts.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#3

Post by LeBlanc » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:53 PM UTC

You could also try to teach yourself. If you already understand object oriented programming, then learning ruby on your own should be doable. It really depends on how you learn best. I prefer to teach myself, and was able to learn ruby and rails in a few weeks.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#4

Post by Tichy » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:55 PM UTC

Personally I prefer books for learning, and they are cheaper, too. It's been a long time that I sat in a course for a programming language, though - perhaps the courses have improved.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#5

Post by dotBen » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:58 PM UTC

At one level, I can't see any downside (I mean, short of loosing a hundred bucks and your time).

But at another level there are other compelling arguments... Like you said, understanding technology and the way web sites and web apps are put together is useful.

But here's another thought: if you keep learning after the course ends and can put some Ruby on Rails code together you'll always be able to find work as a junior developer (or better, if you are good) somewhere - the industry is desperate for more bodies.

Now I'm sure my fellow co-founders and startup entrepreneurs will comment that we really need highly talented engineers, but realistically we just need more people across the board right now who can code well and so that means a much lesser chance of being out of work for those who have these skills.

From the individual's perspective I think that is valuable in this economy, esp if the area you really want to work in is suffering job wise.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#6

Post by brecht » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 10:58 PM UTC

Taking a 6 week course in Ruby will only give you enough knowledge to be annoying and dangerous to your tech leads in whatever future business you start. Even beyond that, I'd bet the sort of thing they'd cover in 6 weeks (syntax, hello worlds, basic I/O) would be wasted on someone with managerial aspirations. Find something like a survey of web technologies instead, become conversant in the language without miring yourself with technical details that won't really help you.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#7

Post by acpigeon » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 11:13 PM UTC

dotBen wrote: post #5

At one level, I can't see any downside (I mean, short of loosing a hundred bucks and your time). But at another level there are other compelling arguments... Like you said, understanding technology and the way web sites and web apps are put together is useful. But here's another thought: if you keep learning after the course ends and can put some Ruby on Rails code together you'll always be able to find work as a jun…

Interesting... I had never thought of doing this as a way to develop a marketable skill. And as you say, even if I'm just able to put some basic code together, that would be a very useful ability to have in a startup environment where everyone has to wear multiple hats.

Thanks for the perspective!

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#8

Post by sleight42 » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 11:50 PM UTC

Chunky bacon!

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#9

Post by TrevorBurnham » Sat, Jul 10, 2010, 11:57 PM UTC

sleight42 wrote: post #8

Chunky bacon!

The parent isn't quite as inane a comment as it may seem. It's a reference to Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby, a widely beloved introduction to the language that you can read free online at

http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/

The Ruby ecosystem is very rich. You don't need a $100 course to learn the language, though it might help to provide motivation.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#10

Post by twism » Sun, Jul 11, 2010, 12:01 AM UTC

I think you should try teaching yourself. There are lots of free online tutorials these days. I started to learn (still learning) and fell in love with python by going through the django tutorial[1] first. But then again, I'm a "throw me in the deep end" kind of guy.

[1] http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.2/intro/tutorial01/ Best tutorial and documentation I've read in a while. If you get stuck somewhere google it.