Ask HN: learning Ruby/Rails

This is sort of a link dump but with some clicking around you should find some good stuff. Good luck!

http://rubyonrails.org/screencasts

http://railsforzombies.org/

http://www.workingwithrails.com/

http://www.railsmentors.org/

http://blog.envylabs.com/2010/12/rails-3-cheat-sheets/

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/55574/learning-ruby-on-ra...

http://railstips.org/blog/archives/2010/10/14/stop-googling/

Ruby Koans is a great tool for learning Ruby in general as well as its quirks and differences with other languages.

http://rubykoans.com/

Basically, it presents you with a battery of broken tests. Your goal is to reach enlightenment by fixing them. The first ones are simple to fix and teach you simple concepts as you do so. As you go, complexity increases.

It's a great tool for someone new to Ruby and Rails as you will want a solid understanding of the language if you will be using a framework on which the language is based. Plus, it reinforces how automated testing can be a valuable tool.

Same here. Thanks for the links. I am specifically interesting in learning Ruby THEN Rails. The other way feels backwards, but that might just be me.

I digress-I have a basic, I mean real basic question-what is a recommended environment to start coding ruby projects? I use XAMPP and Aptana for my front end coding (CSS/HTML) and then render in browser. How do I do replicate that work flow with Ruby source (and integrate it with my front-end code)?

Lame, I know. But hey stupid questions are the one's you don't ask.

UPDATE: rubykoans answered my editor question. Ruby resources still appreciated!

I'm not flaming you here, but you should search HN because this question gets asked at least once a month and there's lots of valuable advice in those.

Try Googling 'ruby rails site:news.ycombinator.com' without the quotes. Filter the result for the last year or so, older advice is either wrong or no longer applicable. There's a search on the HN site, but I prefer Google.

Definitely focus your efforts on Ruby 1.9 and Rails 3, in any case.

Edit: Link!

Here's one from 2 days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2329517

TryRuby.org (http://tryruby.org) was what I started with.

When you're more comfortable with Ruby and want to get started with Rails, get a Heroku (http://heroku.com) account to play around with and check out Rails for Zombies (http://railsforzombies.org/).

I think you'll enjoy Ruby (and RoR). Ruby's a fun language to code in and I found it very beginner-friendly.

If you're just starting out with Ruby I strongly recommend the book "Ruby for Rails" by David A. Black. It teaches you Ruby and shows you how Rubyisms work with Rails.

I've found the Lynda.com video tuts great for a quick overview.

Also:

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ and http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book

I messed around for a while on http://hackety-hack.com/ and now I'm playing with Ruby Koans also.

EDIT: Forgot that I first started with http://tryruby.org/

Everything mentioned here is good. I also like RailsCasts - Ryan does a fantastic job with all his screen casts (http://railscasts.com/).

Great stuff,I just started getting interested in learning Ruby and theirs some gems in here, excuse the pun.

Tks for all the feedback. This is an awsome list to get started.

On to reading & hacking away...

I'm starting to learn as well, thanks for the links guys

Your first stop should be to Rails for Zombies (http://railsforzombies.org/), buy Michael Hartl's book Ruby on Rails Tutorial (http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book), Learn to Program by Chris Pine (http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/) and also start learning Ruby (http://pragprog.com/titles/ruby/programming-ruby). Also, sign up to GitHub and Heroku, locate Ruby and/or Rails meetups close to you, follow the Ruby/Rails community via Twitter, podcasts, blogs. But most importantly, start building and deploying apps right away, no matter how small or trivial they may be.

Also, Sinatra (http://www.sinatrarb.com/)