I want to learn Ruby on Rails. It's my first web language. I understand that Ruby is a language, and Ruby On Rails is a framework. The thing I'm not clear about is whether I need to learn Ruby in depth first, and then learn Rails afterwords. Is that right?
Or is it better to learn them simultaneously?
And, while you're at it, what's the best way to learn it?
My first suggestion would be to learn a little about symbols first. Rails isn't the smallest framework ever, and while there's definitely lots to learn, most of it will start to make sense if you have at least a little bit of understanding what makes it different ("special") from other languages. As pointed out, there's no exact analog in any of the major languages, but they're heavily used by Rails, in order to make things read straightforwardly and perform well, which is the reason I brought it up. My very first exposure to Rails was also my first time looking at Ruby (well before 2.0), and the first thing that caught my eye was the goofy :things they were passing around, and I asked, "WTF is that?"
Also, check out RubyQuiz, and read other peoples' answers on that site.
It's better to learn Ruby first, than start learning it simultaneously with framework. There is no silver bullet in "how to start learning", but I'd suggest Project Euler.
You can start with Programming Ruby book and go through the initial chapters that covers about language basics. Once you are armed with basic concepts on Ruby, you may shift to Ruby on Rails. Since this is your first web framework you will have to clearly understand how a MVC framework works. For Rails, go for Agile development using Rails book. There will be a sample application (Depot App) in that book that will be developed step by step through each chapter. If you could follow that precisely as said, that would greatly improve your Ruby and Rails skills.
Here are those books if you want to download.
I don't think I'd recommend you start with Rails. There's a lot of magic going on, and when I first started, I was frustrated because I didn't know what all the conventions were. I'd recommend you start with http://sinatrarb.com It's simple enough that you can learn ruby while still being able to create sites. Once you get a little more comfortable with the language, then you can tackle rails.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby. Why may not be around anymore but the guide is easy to find on the net (Google points here first) and provided my introduction to Ruby as well as an introduction to programming in general for my 13 year old brother. To give a general idea to the language used to introduce new concepts: the guide first describes Ruby symbols as like an "antacid for the computer".
After the guide, I'd recommend either one of the books the others have suggested, or following the series of screencasts at Learning Rails which is how I picked up enough Ruby on Rails to be dangerous. Once you've completed the Learning Rails series. what you want to do with Rails will start to diverge from the general tutorials and that's where Railscasts becomes a wonderful tool. There's not much can be done with Rails that Railscasts hasn't touched on at some point.
It's very good online course and it's free. Ruby basics, JRuby and Rails. Best of luck.
Simple way do is informal Learning ! ,Think about an application that you want to develop , any simple application start gathering requirements and work on it. If you want learn rails without developing an application it will take long time.
First learn the basics of ruby and start experimenting with rails .
Some of the resources which comes handy in your development :
Most useful Rails plugins, Ruby libraries and Ruby gems
"Develop and Learn is my mantra" .
Hope it is helpful !
Ruby is pretty much a one trick pony - RORs. If you want a real platform with connectivity with just about everything on the planet that can talk to a computer you might want to use Java... Beware of ppl who say you type less w/ Ruby... but what happens if you want a real IDE, want to refact, want integration outside of just doing ROR...
Supposed you have learnt some object-oriented programming language(s) before. Otherwise, learn Ruby first and get the concept of object-oriented programming language.
My best practise is learning by doing. You can start with both. Ruby on Rails offers you something to archieve, like building a decent web site, and Ruby is the powerhouse of your archivement. Reading others' codes (and sample codes) helps you to learn and build quick. Some special features of Ruby are frequently used in Ruby on Rails and you have to learn some time or later, like block and symbol. You can mimic first and dig into it later.
Id recommend Railscasts helped me allot when learning rails. Weblog in 15 Minutes is also a good screencast to watch, takes you from creating the app through to a full blog with comments.