Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 112 posts

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#61

Post by ahlatimer »

waxman wrote: post #41

For someone who isn't a serious programmer but is looking to prototype a business idea, I think Ruby/Rails are more user-friendly than Python/Django. - Rails deployment and hosting are super simple with Heroku ( http://heroku.com ), which, again, I think is more user-friendly than the Python equivalent (Google App Engine) - There are some excellent free resources out there (check out http://railscasts.com , http://gu…

I'd honestly suggest just playing around with Rails rather than trying to get through the reference manual that is Agile Web Development with RoR. That book seems to be well meaning, but it's slow and horribly long. I managed to get through the first 200 or so pages, gave up, and just used Google, the API, and a Rails developer I know to fill in the parts that I didn't know. I've now been a professional Rails developer for over a year, and I can't say I would be any more proficient if I stuck with the book. That said, YMMV.

An alternative is http://railstutorial.org/book, which has the advantage of being free.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#62

Post by rwhitman »

acpigeon wrote: post #50
rufugee wrote: post #46

As someone who has done 4 years of Rails development and has recently switched to Django for new projects, I can tell you it would be worthwhile to learn both. Ruby and Rails are great most of the time, and the Ruby way of doing things is a great learning experience. That said, I threw my hands up after running into multiple libraries duck punching (monkey patching) ActiveSupport into a mangled, conflicting mess one…

That's a helpful metaphor. What I'm looking for is a framework that can be used for rapid prototyping, and it sounds like rails fits the bill.

Django is great for rapid prototyping. The admin area is built in, that alone saves a ridiculous amount of time

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#63

Post by binspace »

acpigeon wrote: post #59
binspace wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may also want to consider Sinatra for rapid prototyping. It's lighter weight (less framework) than Rails. Depending on your preferences, it may suite your needs.

Sinatra is also based on Ruby yes? How does it differ specifically from Rails?

Yes, Sinatra is a Ruby web framework.

Sinatra is more of a "micro-framework" and puts you closer to the http method.

Basically, the api mimics http more closely, you literally use get, put, post, and delete methods to define your routes and actions.

In Sinatra, you define your routes in the same place where you program your Resource's functionality, so less mapping is required. In Rails, you have a separate controller and route files.

The model layers between Sinatra and Rails are very similar. For example, you can use ActiveRecord in Sinatra.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#64

Post by sleight42 »

TrevorBurnham wrote: post #9
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.

I was hoping that someone would find the meta value in the inanity.

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#67

Post by smitjel »

Wait...6 weeks to become conversant in Ruby? A recent engineering grad (from a top ten school no less) even takes the time to post this question? Why not do a quick google search on learning ruby and find a wealth of free resources on learning ruby and just dive in, like most engineering minds would?

Hmm...I guess that's just me, someone with an engineering degree myself.

http://www.humblelittlerubybook.com/

http://www.sapphiresteel.com/ruby-programming/The-Book-Of-Ru...

http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#68

Post by sleight42 »

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…

If you are as yet unfamiliar with webapps, learn a little about HTTP. It's what makes all webapps "go".

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#69

Post by acpigeon »

smitjel wrote: post #67

Wait...6 weeks to become conversant in Ruby? A recent engineering grad (from a top ten school no less) even takes the time to post this question? Why not do a quick google search on learning ruby and find a wealth of free resources on learning ruby and just dive in, like most engineering minds would? Hmm...I guess that's just me, someone with an engineering degree myself. http://www.humblelittlerubybook.com/ http://w…

Recent engineering "survivor" would probably be a more accurate description ;-) As I mentioned, I'm much more of a business-minded guy. Don't ask...

Re: Ask HN: Should I Learn Ruby?

#70

Post by binspace »

binspace wrote: post #63
acpigeon wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sinatra is also based on Ruby yes? How does it differ specifically from Rails?

Yes, Sinatra is a Ruby web framework. Sinatra is more of a "micro-framework" and puts you closer to the http method. Basically, the api mimics http more closely, you literally use get, put, post, and delete methods to define your routes and actions. In Sinatra, you define your routes in the same place where you program your Resource's functionality, so less mapping is required. In Rails, you have a separate controlle…

Also, if you want rapid prototyping, you should look into a document store such as Mongo.

Not having to write migrations (as you would with ActiveRecord + Mysql) is huge.

Also, your models can be more flexible. You can add keys to your document as needed. With Mysql, you need to have a migration to add the column.

Post reply on HN