Beginning

ruby-talk
1

Hello,

I am an absolute beginner of programming but I have extensive knowledge on
computer architecture and systems. I also am a designer. I am somehow
attached to Ruby and I don't know why, but it made me fall in love at the
first sight (I tried C first back on 2009 but didn't really like it).

So, I started learning Lynda's Kevin Skoglund course but didn't really
caught hold of it (Too fast for me) then I started reading "Learn ruby the
hard way" by Rob Sobbers & Zed Shaw. The LRTHW site being down for
maintenance today, I came to know of "_Why's guide to ruby" . So, my
question is, what is the best way for an absolute beginner to learn ruby
that you think? Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
begin programming?

This is my first mail. Hope I didn't breach any condition. Have fun.

Peace be upon you -

Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor

Twitter - @Nirjhor <http://twitter.com/nirjhor>

2

So, my
question is, what is the best way for an absolute beginner to learn ruby
that you think?

hi Junayeed,

  i think which tutorial is best is a question of individual tastes and
learning styles. _why's 'Poignant Guide' was what really got me hooked
on ruby. the other resources that you mention are good ones - you could
also check out the 'Pragmatic Guide,' which i found very useful in
getting started with ruby.

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late
to
begin programming?

  i sure hope not! i was nearly twice that age when i began!

Have fun.

  do the same!

  - j

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

3

Hi.

I'm new to Ruby but not programming (as a hobbyist rather than a
professional). I don't think there is an age limit for starting, you
just need the right resources to stay motivated.

Sometimes knowledge of other languages can be more of a hindrance, as
you have to prevent yourself from thinking within the confines of what
you have already learned.

Hackety hack is supposed to be cool, if your lack of experience is
dampening your confidence...

http://hackety-hack.com/

Generally when switching between languages I work through programming
exercises (designed for any language) to slowly build my understanding.
If you have a program in mind break it down into small sections and work
at one piece at a time. You'll be surprised how it all comes together.
(:

Good luck!

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

4

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
begin programming?

Absolutely not!

5

I am an absolute beginner of programming but I have extensive knowledge on
computer architecture and systems. I also am a designer. I am somehow
attached to Ruby and I don't know why, but it made me fall in love at the
first sight (I tried C first back on 2009 but didn't really like it).

Do you mean you tried C as your first programming language? Oh you
poor thing! I learned C after a solid foundation in BASIC and Pascal,
and it still confused me mightily at first. Now that I've done it for
about 25 years, I'm very comfortable with it -- but still wouldn't
inflict it on a newbie. Ruby is VASTLY more legible, has far fewer
gotchas waiting to trip you up, and has many more useful things built
right in. C is excellent for some things, like kernel, embedded,
device-driver, and hard-real-time programming... but not for learning
to program.

what is the best way for an absolute beginner to learn ruby
that you think?

I think you've found it already, between what you listed and what
others have told you. There are many excellent Ruby tutorials out
there. Now you're diving into the community. That's actually one of
the greatest things about Ruby, the welcoming and supportive
community. In addition to these mailing lists, there is probably a
Meetup or other such RUG in your area.

Of course, practice is what makes perfect. Pick a project that you
want to do in Ruby. Or if you want to take small steps, check out
http://rubykoans.com/ or Google for "code katas". In the latter case,
you can check out my solutions to Dave Thomas's katas on my
programming blog at http://codosaur.us/\. I strongly advise you also
Google TDD or "Test Driven Development", to start getting into some
good habits.

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
begin programming?

Absolutely not! I've worked with brilliant programmers who started
later than that. One of my colleagues a few jobs ago, had had a
successful career as a pig farmer until he wanted to impress his
girlfriend by taking a COBOL class at the local Community College, way
back when.

Welcome aboard the Ruby yacht!

-Dave

···

On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 08:29, Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor <zombiegenerator@aol.com> wrote:

--
LOOKING FOR WORK! What: Ruby (on/off Rails), Python, other modern languages.
Where: Northern Virginia, Washington DC (near Orange Line), and remote work.
davearonson.com (main) * codosaur.us (programing) * dare2xl.com (excellence)
Specialization is for insects. (Heinlein) - Have Pun, Will Babble! (Aronson)

6

I never liked _why's guide.

I started to learn ruby from chris pine tutorial.

Then soon started to write scripts that helped me get reallife things
solved. And from that point I used ruby more and more.

I came from PHP though...

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

7

Thanks all for your kind and informative answers. I'm working on my own
pace now (sans some glitches here and there)

Love you all !

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

8

Thanks for your kind reply. I already went through hackety hack. It's so sad that "_why" disappeared all on a sudden on mid-2009.

Any other suggestion you have for me? Thanks again

Peace be upon you –
Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor
Twitter - @Nirjhor

···

-----Original Message-----
From: John H. [mailto:mynameisjohn@linuxmail.org]
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 7:00 PM
To: ruby-talk ML
Subject: Re: Beginning

Hi.

I'm new to Ruby but not programming (as a hobbyist rather than a professional). I don't think there is an age limit for starting, you just need the right resources to stay motivated.

Sometimes knowledge of other languages can be more of a hindrance, as you have to prevent yourself from thinking within the confines of what you have already learned.

Hackety hack is supposed to be cool, if your lack of experience is dampening your confidence...

http://hackety-hack.com/

Generally when switching between languages I work through programming exercises (designed for any language) to slowly build my understanding.
If you have a program in mind break it down into small sections and work at one piece at a time. You'll be surprised how it all comes together.
(:

Good luck!

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

9

Hello,

I disliked "Why's poignant guide" to ruby, because since I'm not native English speaker I did not understand all the "jokes" and side-comments and find it a bit frustrating.
I really liked this book [1]. Really helped a lot and I didn't finish it yet, because finishing the first part was enough to write a series of scripts that I needed.

It's a clear reading, easy to understand and spot-on, imho. More experienced users may argue, but since I really have the view of a non-programmer on it, I feel that many books take too much for granted.

There's another book from Chris Pine which is a really good for beginners but it's rather incomplete. I'd use it for under 16 kids that want to start with the language though.

[1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-Ruby-Novice-Professional-Experts/dp/1430223634/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1318758683&sr=8-8

···

On 14 Οκτ 2011, at 14:56 , jake kaiden wrote:

So, my
question is, what is the best way for an absolute beginner to learn ruby
that you think?

hi Junayeed,

i think which tutorial is best is a question of individual tastes and
learning styles. _why's 'Poignant Guide' was what really got me hooked
on ruby. the other resources that you mention are good ones - you could
also check out the 'Pragmatic Guide,' which i found very useful in
getting started with ruby.

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late
to
begin programming?

i sure hope not! i was nearly twice that age when i began!

Have fun.

do the same!

- j

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

10

Hello,

I'm not considering my self a programmer, but I messed with ruby at 27-28 (now I'm 29).

Hope this makes you feel better :slight_smile:

Best Regards

···

On 15 Οκτ 2011, at 14:09 , Josh Cheek wrote:

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
begin programming?

Absolutely not!

11

I strongly advise not to until he actually learns programming first :wink:
Throwing software development methodologies at a beginner is no good,
and at first everyone will be perfectly fine with a couple of "puts"s
at the end of the file with whatever one's creating to verify stuff
doesn't blow up (I know this is, in fact, testing - but testing
without all the frameworks and related fluff is just as good or better
at this stage).

-- Matma Rex

···

2011/10/16 Dave Aronson <rubytalk2dave@davearonson.com>:

I strongly advise you also
Google TDD or "Test Driven Development", to start getting into some
good habits.

12

Josh Cheek wrote in post #1026766:

Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
begin programming?

Absolutely not!

Google Josh Cheek.
Chris Pine's book was helpful, without it I doubt I could have even
gotten started, but I 'finished' the book and still could do nothing. I
have about four other courses claiming to teach Ruby to absolute
beginners, and none of those were helping. After several weeks of
feeling like I was beating my head against a wall, I just started Josh
Cheek's Ruby Kickstart and it totally rocks.
Good luck.

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

13

Good luck, stay motivated :slight_smile:

···

On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 11:25 AM, Junayeed A. <zombiegenerator@gmail.com>wrote:

Thanks all for your kind and informative answers. I'm working on my own
pace now (sans some glitches here and there)

Love you all !

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

14

http://www.ruby-kickstart.com/ and http://rubykoans.com/

···

On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor <zombiegenerator@aol.com> wrote:

Any other suggestion you have for me? Thanks again

--
Phillip Gawlowski

gplus.to/phgaw | twitter.com/phgaw

A method of solution is perfect if we can forsee from the start,
and even prove, that following that method we shall attain our aim.
-- Leibniz

15

Thanks for your kind reply. I already went through hackety hack. It's so sad that "_why" disappeared all on a sudden on mid-2009.

Hackety Hack maintainer here. Thanks for trying it out, we're gearing
up for another release soon, but I bet you're past where it'd be
helpful now.

The big ones are:

Poignant Guide
Learn to Program by Chris Pine
Learn Ruby the Hard Way
Ruby Koans

16

Test-driven learning, even for beginner CS, has a proven track record,
research supporting its utility, and growing support in university
curricula and industry. See, for instance,
<http://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~djanzen/tdl/&gt;

I've known more than a few n00bs for whom the test-driven lessons such
as Ruby Koans gave a running start on Ruby language acquisition,
testing practices, and metaprogramming. The Railsbridge curriculum
too is test-first.

Test-driven learning is a valid approach, and one worth exploring.

···

2011/10/16 Bartosz Dziewoński <matma.rex@gmail.com>:

2011/10/16 Dave Aronson <rubytalk2dave@davearonson.com>:

I strongly advise you also
Google TDD or "Test Driven Development", to start getting into some
good habits.

I strongly advise not to until he actually learns programming first :wink:
Throwing software development methodologies at a beginner is no good,
and at first everyone will be perfectly fine with a couple of "puts"s
at the end of the file with whatever one's creating to verify stuff
doesn't blow up (I know this is, in fact, testing - but testing
without all the frameworks and related fluff is just as good or better
at this stage).

--
Carina

17

Aww :slight_smile:

···

On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 3:19 PM, Charles Agriesti <dragriesti@comcast.net>wrote:

Josh Cheek wrote in post #1026766:
>> Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to
>> begin programming?
>>
>>
> Absolutely not!

Google Josh Cheek.
Chris Pine's book was helpful, without it I doubt I could have even
gotten started, but I 'finished' the book and still could do nothing. I
have about four other courses claiming to teach Ruby to absolute
beginners, and none of those were helping. After several weeks of
feeling like I was beating my head against a wall, I just started Josh
Cheek's Ruby Kickstart and it totally rocks.
Good luck.

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

18

Following along Josh Cheek. So far so good, Thanks for the suggestion.

Godspeed –

Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor

Twitter - @Nirjhor <http://twitter.com/nirjhor&gt;

···

-----Original Message-----

From: Charles Agriesti [mailto:dragriesti@comcast.net]

Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 2:19 AM

To: ruby-talk ML

Subject: Re: Beginning

Josh Cheek wrote in post #1026766:

>> Also, a supplementary question could be, is 19 too late to begin

>> programming?

>>

>>

> Absolutely not!

Google Josh Cheek.

Chris Pine's book was helpful, without it I doubt I could have even gotten

started, but I 'finished' the book and still could do nothing. I have about four

other courses claiming to teach Ruby to absolute beginners, and none of

those were helping. After several weeks of feeling like I was beating my

head against a wall, I just started Josh Cheek's Ruby Kickstart and it totally

rocks.

Good luck.

--

Posted via <http://www.ruby-forum.com/&gt; http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

19

This approach forces the learner to build very small working
and testable examples, which has been exceptionally valuable to me.

···

On Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:37:00 +0900 "Carina C. Zona" <cczona@gmail.com> wrote:

2011/10/16 Bartosz Dziewoński <matma.rex@gmail.com>:
Test-driven learning is a valid approach, and one worth exploring.

--
http://spiralofhope.com