Item — HN Reader

I disagree that using Rails Tutorial as a beginner resource is the way to go.

In fact, I used that as my first resource for learning Rails! Here are some problems I found with it:

1. It teaches you Git along with Rails. Who cares about source control at this point? Remember: This is for a newcomer to Rails that just wants to learn how to create websites using rails; don't confuse me even more.

2. It teaches you how to deploy to Heroku. Again, don't care at this point.

3. It teaches you how to deploy your code to Github. Once again, NEEDLESS INFORMATION AT THIS POINT! :P

4. Unit testing; Ugh, I'm 100 pages in and I barely have a grasp of what I'm doing, and I'm STILL barely 1 controller with 2 actions in.

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There are other alternatives that I think are better for a newbie.

I will concede that Michael's tutorial IS GOOD, but just not good for someone brand new to ruby and rails. I find myself re-reading Rails Tutorial and The Pragprog Agile Rails book every couple of weeks, discovering new things I missed.

That's the way to learn, keep reviewing things.

3 comments

1 to 3 are useful because you'll be doing them so frequently you can't ignore them.

Getting code to a working public server was a point of revelation for me as a new rails developer. It was hard, but rewarding.

4 can be safely skipped until you're ready for it.

Micheal's Rails Tutorial was my first step in to Rails. I took Micheal's suggestion in the tutorial and spent a few days getting the basics of Ruby.

What Micheal focuses on is teaching you a few things he considers essential to the Rails ecosystem - git, Heroku and RSpec ( He mention the Test::Unit alternative too). I have learnt a lot from his tutorial and this is where I point others new to Rails to go to.

Also, it is better to get acquainted with git while working on a (dummy) project than trying its commands in a vacuum where one doesn't understand its power.

Interesting. I might be persuaded to recommend something else. What alternatives do you think are better?

I haven't found a good starting point. The two main contenders I've read in non sequential order:

1. Micheal Heartl's Rails Tutorial. 2. Pragmatic Programmers Bookshelf - Agile Rails 3.2 (4th Edition)

Both are a good start but delve far too much into unit testing with the horrific RSpec. When you're learning something new, you don't want to muddle with learning a DSL on top of things.

Consider "Rails for Zombies"[0].

[0] I teach/tutor Rails programming, and my students have found this resource particularly helpful.

Consider "Rails for Zombies"[0].

[0] I teach/tutor Rails, and my students have found this resource particularly helpful.