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Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#11

Post by acangiano »

For the record, Ruby is just one, albeit massive, component. You need to learn a bit about each of the following areas.

Must have:

- HTML

- CSS

- Ruby

- Ruby on Rails

Really nice to have:

- JavaScript / jQuery (or similar)

- SQL / Database design

Nice to have:

- Git (Revision control system)

- RSpec or similar (Ruby testing)

You don't need to learn everything tomorrow, but I laid out sort of a roadmap of things you may want to focus on.

PS: Can you provide us with a link to the course?

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#12

Post by rortian »

The best advice I could give to someone trying to learn a computer language is to first pick something you'd like to do. You'd like to be able to put together a website so that's a good start.

With an English background you might try something like:

Putting together a collection of books by an author (or as many as you want) from Project Gutenberg. Come up with a rails site that lets you explore or search these in an interesting way.

There's lots of things to try, but trying to do something versus trying to learn something for its own sake, will give you a chance to focus and learn as opposed to just learning all there is about a language. With Ruby, there is way too much to learn, but you can get started quickly.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#13

Post by zedshaw »

I'd say, learn Python or Ruby, doesn't matter, but try them both for a few days. One will click and the other won't.

If you go the Python route, I've got a free book I'm working for beginners that might be too beginner for you:

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

But I reference two other books on that page which actually could be a good start for you. After that, check out the Django book:

http://www.djangobook.com/en/2.0/

Which will teach you Django, a very popular web framework (more popular than Rails actually).

I'd also say, take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm humorously famous for hating Rails.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#14

Post by acangiano »

zedshaw wrote: post #13

I'd say, learn Python or Ruby, doesn't matter, but try them both for a few days. One will click and the other won't. If you go the Python route, I've got a free book I'm working for beginners that might be too beginner for you: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ But I reference two other books on that page which actually could be a good start for you. After that, check out the Django book: http://www.djangobook.com/en…

I generally agree with your comment, but I found this stament to be inaccurate:

> (more popular than Rails actually)

[citation needed]. The largest websites/web applications in the world are built in Rails much more frequently than in Django. And there is much more demand for Rails developers in the marketplace. I fail to see evidence that Django is actually used more than Rails is in the real world.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#15

Post by johnwatson11218 »

For what its worth, I was doing stuff in Ruby at work but I switched to Groovy after a while. Things like Oracle db drivers, using "gem install" behind a ntlm network proxy were some roadblocks that I ran into with Ruby in a locked down enterprise environment. If you are going to be writing code and running your own servers then Ruby is easier to work with. I still think there is a cultural clash with Ruby in larger/more traditional IT shops.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#16

Post by cageface »

Do it. Having some understanding of programming will be an asset even if you don't use it and Ruby is a fun and easy language to learn.

If nothing else you'll appreciate why the engineering team usually considers the sales team its enemy.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#17

Post by [deleted] »

zedshaw wrote: post #13

I'd say, learn Python or Ruby, doesn't matter, but try them both for a few days. One will click and the other won't. If you go the Python route, I've got a free book I'm working for beginners that might be too beginner for you: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ But I reference two other books on that page which actually could be a good start for you. After that, check out the Django book: http://www.djangobook.com/en…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#18

Post by samratjp »

Yes, take the class if it's at that price range. Then, checkout tryruby.org and railstutorials.org. Those two will complement your learning. RailsTutorials is very much targeted for all skill levels and if you can find your way to post on HN thus far, you may be able to follow along RailsTutorials :-)

Edit: Also, look at my earlier comment http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1499755

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#19

Post by acpigeon »

acangiano wrote: post #11

For the record, Ruby is just one, albeit massive, component. You need to learn a bit about each of the following areas. Must have: - HTML - CSS - Ruby - Ruby on Rails Really nice to have: - JavaScript / jQuery (or similar) - SQL / Database design Nice to have: - Git (Revision control system) - RSpec or similar (Ruby testing) You don't need to learn everything tomorrow, but I laid out sort of a roadmap of things you m…

That's a good point. I imagine that I would be able to pick up what I need to know as I go along, that's what would make taking the course interesting (sink or swim!).

Here's the course description I was looking at. I haven't really looked anywhere else but I'm sure there are more out there.

http://www.ed2go.com/monroe/online_course/rby/detail/Introdu...

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#20

Post by mrduncan »

acangiano wrote: post #14
zedshaw wrote: post #13

I'd say, learn Python or Ruby, doesn't matter, but try them both for a few days. One will click and the other won't. If you go the Python route, I've got a free book I'm working for beginners that might be too beginner for you: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ But I reference two other books on that page which actually could be a good start for you. After that, check out the Django book: http://www.djangobook.com/en…

I generally agree with your comment, but I found this stament to be inaccurate: > (more popular than Rails actually) [citation needed]. The largest websites/web applications in the world are built in Rails much more frequently than in Django. And there is much more demand for Rails developers in the marketplace. I fail to see evidence that Django is actually used more than Rails is in the real world.

The largest websites/web applications in the world are built in Rails much more frequently than in Django.

While we're calling each other out for citations, that's an awfully big statement to make without citations as well.

Let's just put it this way: Both frameworks power large sites, you pretty much can't go wrong with either.

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