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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

#21

Post by saltcod »

The other thing I want to add is how much 'else' I learned while running through Michael Hartl's tutorial.

Despite many years making websites, I really had no clue about basic http methods — get, put, post, etc — and in fact, I didn't even realize what they were. The other huge, huge thing for me was finally figuring out what REST is all about.

Basically, the web runs on those few basic http methods, and using the REST approach spells that out for you and cements it in your head.

I had an awesome jump-up-and-down moment when it finally clicked.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#22

Post by swalberg »

GnomeChomsky wrote: post #16

Any advice for getting started for someone without a Mac? I remember once trying to learn and immediately stalling out during setup (lame, I know). I have WinXP & Ubuntu, and would like to take a stab at this again no matter how stupid I feel about not even being to able to install the damn stuff to start with.

http://railsinstaller.org/ makes it really easy on Windows, though you might find that some of the gems don't work properly.

Another option would be to use something like Vagrant, which gives you a VirtualBox server that's mapped to your local filesystem. So you use the editors you're used to but you have a fairly solid server running the code. If you search around for "vagrant rails" you'll find several pre-built images, along with a RailsCast that explains how it all fits together.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#23

Post by cgag »

GnomeChomsky wrote: post #16

Any advice for getting started for someone without a Mac? I remember once trying to learn and immediately stalling out during setup (lame, I know). I have WinXP & Ubuntu, and would like to take a stab at this again no matter how stupid I feel about not even being to able to install the damn stuff to start with.

I'm going through the rails tutorial on arch linux and I haven't run into any issues. Definitely use ubuntu, I think it'd be pretty painful on windows.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#25

Post by jemka »

fragileandys wrote: post #24

is this a joke? if so its funny... when i click the link i get: "Error establishing a database connection", haha

It's likely a result of a cheap host server not being able to handle the traffic. Not a reflection of OP's programming abilities.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#26

Post by james-fend »

jemka wrote: post #25
fragileandys wrote: post #24

is this a joke? if so its funny... when i click the link i get: "Error establishing a database connection", haha

It's likely a result of a cheap host server not being able to handle the traffic. Not a reflection of OP's programming abilities.

Yep. That's exactly it, it's on a cheap server and too much traffic. Anybody experience this before and/or know some quick solutions?

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#27

Post by mellifluousmind »

As someone with programming background, I actually wish there are more stories on the opposite direction (programmer who gets kickass awesome in UI design (HTML + CSS)).

I think that the complexity of CSS compatibility (what browser supports what not... even there are minor quirks between Firefox & Chrome, not just IE.. don't get me started on IE7 & 8 either), it is very easy to raise a white flag and say "that is it..I am going back to deal with backend only tasks, nothing that consumer will see on the surface).

Perhaps, OP already has a knack for UI design (as he/she mentioned in the post that he/she is a UI designer by trade before Ruby), so kudos for getting a nice grip on Rails. As for me, I wish I can master the UI design etc.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#28

Post by james-fend »

darushimo wrote: post #17

thanks james and commenters saltcod and tmh88j for saying that the first few weeks are the hardest. I'm banging away at the google python exercises and nearly crying. knowing that other people are going through this headache too gives me a bit of confidence to truck through.

No prob! exactly why I wrote it.. during times of learning code; motivation is like gold

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#29

Post by james-fend »

mellifluousmind wrote: post #27

As someone with programming background, I actually wish there are more stories on the opposite direction (programmer who gets kickass awesome in UI design (HTML + CSS)). I think that the complexity of CSS compatibility (what browser supports what not... even there are minor quirks between Firefox & Chrome, not just IE.. don't get me started on IE7 & 8 either), it is very easy to raise a white flag and say "that is it…

Do you think it's a left brain, right brain sort of thing? I mean what controls someone's ability to draw better than others?

I've noticed usually the better someone can draw on paper, their web design reflects the same.

Re: How I Learned Enough Ruby On Rails In 12 Weeks To Launch Freelancify

#30

Post by james-fend »

saltcod wrote: post #21

The other thing I want to add is how much 'else' I learned while running through Michael Hartl's tutorial. Despite many years making websites, I really had no clue about basic http methods — get, put, post, etc — and in fact, I didn't even realize what they were. The other huge, huge thing for me was finally figuring out what REST is all about. Basically, the web runs on those few basic http methods, and using the RE…

Jump-up-and-down moments, ah... those are great!
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