Noob Rails ? about learning Rails

Question

Hi All

I have been programming for a while and for the past 3 or 4 months have been learning ruby. I am not an expert by any means but I believe I have the basics down.

I decided to start learning RoR and bought the "Agile Web Development with Rails 3rd Edition" and have been dutifully going through the chapters one by one. Currently I am in chapter 8 and have had no problems so far.

My question is I know I have learned several things so far and I know that I am starting to get a sense of the Rails framework I have this fear that I am just not learning as much as I should. Some things I get and understand the interconnections while I feel on other things I am just going through the motions and don't fully comprehend the total interconnectivity. Now, there is still a large amount of the book for me to complete. I guess I am just wondering if I complete this book what should I expect to be able to accomplish on my own and what should be my next steps.

Thanks

Answer 1

if you complete that book, and fully comprehend everything, you'll have a ton of the rails framework behind you. the only way to master it, is by doing it. write apps, even if they're nonsensical. i wrong a full website alongside the depot app when i went through the first sections of that book. then i tried to find a way to tie-in every part of ActiveSupport covered, then ActiveRecord, etc.

Answer 2

After reading the same book, I was able to build a web application. The building of that web application helped me make all of the connections and learn all of the things that weren't covered in the book. There's absolutely no substitute for putting what you are learning into practice. It's the difference between learning German from a book and waking up in Munich with hangover and no money and making your way home.

Build something.

Answer 3

In addition to the (good) answers already given, I'd suggest sitting down and reading through at least strategic sections of the Rails codebase. The effort of trying to figure out the overall structure of Rails as a piece of software will cement a lot of the connections in your head. On top of that you're likely to learn some new things about Ruby. Might also be well worth your time to read through some good open source apps done in Rails to see how people approach various problems.

Answer 4

Also go through the excellent Ruby on Rails RailsCasts by Ryan Bates.