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Comment by habosa | Hacker News Reader

Hartl's Rails Tutorial is by far the best and most pragmatic programming tutorial I have ever read. I used it to get me started with Rails 3 (bought the hard copy) and I still consult it all the time when working in Rails. I have never felt so empowered as a programmer the first time I build that twitter clone from the tutorial. It didn't teach me anything about algorithms, databases, or any of the core things I learn in school. Instead it taught me serious practical things like deployment, rapid prototyping, version control, and so much more. Michael, if you're still reading this thread: Thank You. You made programming exciting for me.

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Thanks for sharing your story. Glad to hear it! :-)

I was just about to start the tutorial for this reason. I don't have any Rails experience but I've been learning basic Ruby.

Should I start with this (4.0) tutorial?

Yes, the Rails Tutorial and RailsCasts episodes should get you up to speed and keep you up to date. IMHO, they're the best learning resources for RoR out there.

Yeah, sorry, what I meant was that I'm definitely set on doing the tutorial. I'm just not sure if I should go through the 4.0 draft or the older version that's been up there. Would it be more practical to learn on 4.0?

They're not that different, so if you're just starting out I recommend following the more stable 3.2 version. Once you've finished that, you'll be in a position to learn the Rails 4.0–specific material very quickly (especially once the supplementary screencast comes out).

The older version, 3.2, should be more stabler but it may be worth the slight risk to learn 4.0 from the start, as that will provide you with newer feature overviews of the framework. If you do have troubles with 4.0, you can ask and find answers on StackOverflow or the #rubyonrails IRC. You may also help by reporting any errors or bugs in 4.0.

I agree. Having been suddenly thrusted into the world of Ruby, Rails (and web development in general) from Java and C, Micheal's tutorial was a real life saver. I would have been lost in the crowd had it not been for this. Excellent!

Totally agree. Tried a few other things before it and so few get the balance of explaining enough 'why' to make a task not arbitrary, while also keeping you grounded in the practical stuff you actually need to know.

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