Learning Ruby and Ruby on Rails

Question

I have been trying to get into Ruby and the Rails framework for a while now, but somehow I find it quite hard to get started.

I have programming experience with Java, and web languages like PHP, JS. I've read around StackOverflow for a bit and while some recommend learning Ruby first, others recommend to get started with RoR straight away.

I would like to have a strong background of Ruby first before learning the framework. However, I'm not sure which are the right resources to start learning from.

Of course, there's the 'Pickaxe book', but while it's good and make things understandable, it seems to be giving code snippets more than anything else (I've only made it through the first three chapters, still going). Some of the Rails books I've read start up a project and guide you through (like the RoR tutorial book, the Agile RoR book,..). Are there any books out there for Ruby itself that have a similar approach, that is, instead of going over every part of the language, I'd like to build a project and thén go over the different parts of the language.

Related question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/55574/learning-ruby-on-rails and a truckload of others. — Andrew Grimm, Mar 01 '11 at 22:49
Rails is built on Ruby, and inherits a lot of Ruby-isms, that won't really make sense until you are comfortable with Ruby. I don't recommend jumping directly into Rails, because of that. Come up to speed with Ruby and Rails will suddenly make a lot of sense. Rails is a very fast-moving target, so it can change underneath you as you struggle with learning both aspects; Conversely, knowing Ruby means that Rails' changes won't throw you nearly as bad. — the Tin Man, Mar 03 '11 at 21:29

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 09:51

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To get started learning ruby, I'd suggest you dive in to Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby.

As far as rails is concerned, I think the official rails guide is the place to start.

answered Mar 01 '11 at 09:51

Benson

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Seems like a rather hard read with the comic-y style, but I'll make sure to check it! – Joris Ooms Mar 03 '11 at 20:32

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 09:52

I would strongly recommend you Railscasts, is one of the best resources to actually get the way you should code in RoR and what to use

In terms of Ruby, one of the most useful books I have read is Design Patterns in Ruby, with really useful day to day solved problems.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 10:31

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I would suggest Head First Rails. Its the best book I have ever read on Rails.

Also you can read this very good book Getting real on rails by the rails founder

answered Mar 01 '11 at 10:31

Umesh K

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 10:35

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Go straight to http://railsforzombies.org

It's a great way to learn Rails: as efficient as crazy :)

answered Mar 01 '11 at 10:35

apneadiving

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 11:32

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I would suggest Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl. You can read it online. It's also a good introduction to test-driven development, and will get you started on git as well.

answered Mar 01 '11 at 11:32

Marcos Crispino

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 11:46

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It's not a ruby tutorial, but a rails demo is a good place to learn some rails stuff after you've found out a bit more about Ruby itself

for Ruby though, try hackety-hack

answered Mar 01 '11 at 11:46

stephenmurdoch

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 11:54

If your goal is developing web applications, then getting firstly the strong background in Ruby is long way, life is too short for this. Rails is also the Ruby, you're learning the Ruby while you're learning Rails. I'd recommend the Ruby on Rails 3 Essential Training, for me it was fresh and dynamic start. Then you can read another great books about Ruby.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 01 '11 at 13:02

To learn Ruby itself, I'd recommend Beginning Ruby by Peter Cooper. It covers the essentials of the language and tools with small practical projects. The chapter on Rails does use Rails 2, so it will give you the concepts but you shouldn't rely on the detail there.

Beyond that, I would suggest either Design Patterns in Ruby or the newly released Eloquent Ruby, both by Russ Olsen. The Design Patterns book is excellent at explaining the standard patterns and demonstrating a Ruby way to approach them. I haven't read Eloquent Ruby yet, but it is getting very positive reviews.

Just try this. https://www.bloc.io/ruby-warrior/ – patriques Apr 09 '14 at 20:15 — patriques, Apr 09 '14 at 20:15

Learning Ruby and Ruby on Rails

8 Answers8