How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
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Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#2Great write up. I experienced a similar adventure in learning PHP over the past couple months and I completely agree that the first few weeks are by far the hardest.
Late last summer a friend and I came up with a great idea but we lacked the programming skills to create it ourselves. I knew a bit of HTML, a touch of c++ , and PLC ladder logic programming(huge help, right?). It wasn't until around October that I realized we were getting nowhere. I decided enough was enough and I was going to learn how to program. I spent an entire weekend reading and trying out zend's PHP 101 for beginners. Three months later and I had created a user authentication system with messaging, friends lists, administrative rights, and all sorts of other goodies. I was working a full time job so I did this with my spare time.
Your site looks great by the way. Keep up the good work.
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#3Great write up. I experienced a similar adventure in learning PHP over the past couple months and I completely agree that the first few weeks are by far the hardest. Late last summer a friend and I came up with a great idea but we lacked the programming skills to create it ourselves. I knew a bit of HTML, a touch of c++ , and PLC ladder logic programming(huge help, right?). It wasn't until around October that I reali…
thank you! how many hours total do you think you spent during the 3 months?
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#4Great write up. I experienced a similar adventure in learning PHP over the past couple months and I completely agree that the first few weeks are by far the hardest. Late last summer a friend and I came up with a great idea but we lacked the programming skills to create it ourselves. I knew a bit of HTML, a touch of c++ , and PLC ladder logic programming(huge help, right?). It wasn't until around October that I reali…
thank you! how many hours total do you think you spent during the 3 months?
During the initial learning phase I wasn't as enthralled because who cares what $this->someFunction($variable) means? I'd say I put in around an hour per day for the first month and then once I got the hang of it, probably 2-4 hours per day after that. I made sure to take off programming at least one day per week so I wouldn't get burned out considering I was working full time too.
So, I'd estimate around 150-160 hours. I should've kept track. I plan on learning ruby later on this year and I'll be sure to keep a record of that.
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#5I just had a look at Freelancify and registered, and I'm amazed that you did it all in 12 weeks learning Ruby from scratch. Kudos!
Based on your experience, how do you think learning materials/tutorials could be improved for people learning from scratch?
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
thank you! how many hours total do you think you spent during the 3 months?
During the initial learning phase I wasn't as enthralled because who cares what $this->someFunction($variable) means? I'd say I put in around an hour per day for the first month and then once I got the hang of it, probably 2-4 hours per day after that. I made sure to take off programming at least one day per week so I wouldn't get burned out considering I was working full time too. So, I'd estimate around 150-160 hou…
That's pretty fast. Yeah.. once getting past that initial learning curve; it becomes a lot funner.
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#7I just had a look at Freelancify and registered, and I'm amazed that you did it all in 12 weeks learning Ruby from scratch. Kudos! Based on your experience, how do you think learning materials/tutorials could be improved for people learning from scratch?
Thank you! Without getting too much into technics in the beginning, and getting the person to get something up to feel accomplished, gain confidence.
I think that's what gets most people. That initial learning curve takes a lot reassurance that they can do it; but if they hit a wall and it takes more than 7-8 hours to get around it, a lot just quit all together.
By far, the most thorough and best written resource I used was the Rails Tutorial from Michael Hartl.
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#8Fantastic post. Thanks so much for it. I decided to really dig into Ruby on Rails after Christmas this year, after thinking/talking about it for years. I was thrilled to hear that you really had no programming background—I think a lot of us are in this boat.
I watched the Lynda.com videos on Ruby, and the one on Ruby on Rails (both from Kevin Skoglund). I just watched enough of both to get fairly overwhelmed and confused, then moved on to Michael Hartl's site. Things started to click much better there—that's the best Rails resource I've seen to date.
Still though, After really digging in over the evenings and two weekends, that nagging feeling started to set in—am I actually going to 'get' this? Am I wasting my time? Is this going to take years? Will I ever get past layouts/partials? Should I just go learn PHP / Javascript / iOS / something else?
Did you feel like giving up? Or question the purpose/wisdom of learning Ruby and Rails?
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
thank you! how many hours total do you think you spent during the 3 months?
During the initial learning phase I wasn't as enthralled because who cares what $this->someFunction($variable) means? I'd say I put in around an hour per day for the first month and then once I got the hang of it, probably 2-4 hours per day after that. I made sure to take off programming at least one day per week so I wouldn't get burned out considering I was working full time too. So, I'd estimate around 150-160 hou…
James, this is in response to what you said to my last comment. The reply button wasn't showing.
Anyway, that 150-160 hours was to the point where I was comfortable enough to sit down and code away. I'm still working on the system and I'm still learning a lot. I'd also like to become a lot better with css/jquery. I know the basics and not much more. A guy on my team is a front end whiz so I don't have to worry about cramming that into my head right now.
Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify
#10Fantastic post. Thanks so much for it. I decided to really dig into Ruby on Rails after Christmas this year, after thinking/talking about it for years. I was thrilled to hear that you really had no programming background—I think a lot of us are in this boat. I watched the Lynda.com videos on Ruby, and the one on Ruby on Rails (both from Kevin Skoglund). I just watched enough of both to get fairly overwhelmed and conf…
Yes, it was the hardest/easiest thing to learn I've ever experienced. Sometimes I was jumping out of my chair and then other times throwing things against the wall.
Plenty of times I wanted to just give up.. during those points; I'd step back and go take a break, go for a walk, do something.. other than think.
Programming is hard because it's full-time blitz mode thinking. I felt the front part of my brain (is that where all the programming juice is held?) hurt often in the beginning.
Do you have an actual product you want to work on?