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Ask HN: What is the best resource for learning Ruby?
11 points by piratebroadcast on June 7, 2013 | hide | past | favorite | 11 comments
There seem to be a lot of options. I have started/tried but it isnt quite sticking for me yet. Would really really appreciate any advice.



What is your background? Do you have any experience with other programming languages you can relate to? What is the purpose of learning Ruby?

First and foremost, you are the best resource for learning Ruby. Lean by doing.

1) Work through http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/book/ then work through it again.

2) Then pick up David A. Black's The Well Grounded Rubyist. Read it to fill in the blanks, then read it again to pick up the tidbits you missed the first go around.

3) Find other people. Look for guidance. Look for a mentor. Look for a users group (ruby brigade) in your area where you can find others to ask questions and advice on the topics that stump you the most.


Thanks. I have built sites in Wordpress, so front end experience, but Ruby will be my first programming language.


That being the case and if you want to get started with Ruby in the context of web sites/applications, take a look at Michael Hartl's book - http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book - working through this will help you feel like you're making progress (again, learn by doing). If there's something you find that you don't understand about the ruby language (i.e. symbols, booleans, etc.), I'm sure you'll find the answer and explanation in The Well Grounded Rubyist.

Do this after working through Learn Ruby the Hard Way.

Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book is also a great intro to the language - http://humblelittlerubybook.com/book/html/index.html


For new programmers, I'd personally recommend 'eloquent ruby' over 'the well grounded rubyist' not because its better but because I believe it to be more accessible to those without a ton of programming experience.

I actually love the well grounded rubyist and definitely think all ruby devs should read it eventually but hesitate to recommend it to someone new to programming.


There are a multitude of resources - I am still learning, but the biggest difference I have come across so far is taking a course with classmates and a mentor/instructor at www.rubylearning.org. The material is very similar to other resources (such as Chris Pine's Learn to Program, which is excellent), but simply having a knowledgable tutor to give feedback on your solutions to exercises and nudge you towards new (better) lines of thinking is invaluable. I would recommend reading through Pine's Learn to Program perhaps concurrently with the Treehouse Ruby track, and then taking an actual course at rubylearning.com (~$50).


https://encrypted.google.com/#q=site:news.ycombinator.com+le...

This has been asked over and over again. The last time I remember was 5 days ago. That's the best resource.


How much programming experience do you have? Are you looking to learn it as someone moving from a different language (PHP, C, JS, etc.), or as someone completely new to programming?


The eBook - LittleBookOfRuby is great. No cost and a great intro. http://www.SAPHIRESTEEL.com


http://sapphiresteel.com; might be what you meant to link


That URL is fail.


Thanks!




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