404 Knowledge Not Found

Hello, I'm a n00b programmer that's trying my best to learn through free/cheap online resources.

[n00b404]

Ruby on Rails

I've decided that I'm going to focus on Ruby on Rails for now because it seems like a really practical and useful tool.  Rails is basically a framework that helps you zip through developing Ruby-based apps.

The website I'm going to use is called RailsTutorial.org.  It's basically a comprehensive book that's accessible to beginners and was written by this super bro dude named Michael Hartl.  You may ask, "What's so 'bro' about Michael Hartl?"  Well he released his book and all subsequent versions of it online for FREE with the assumption that if you ran into him in a bar one day, you'd buy him a beer for it and entertain him in a nice conversation.  So BA, bro.  *bro fist*

[n00b404]

Codecademy

Just finished the Ruby Program on Codecademy.  I actually really enjoyed it.  It taught me a lot about the basics of both programming in general and Ruby through many useful examples.  I went through it much slower than was suggested.  It was supposed to take about 9 hours to get through the whole thing, but it probably took me double that time because I was taking notes, playing around, and trying to fully comprehend what I was doing.  This course was geared towards total beginners to programming, so it starts pretty slow, then picks up in pace, until eventually you end by writing your own accounting program.  Pretty cool, and I definitely feel like I can start to write some of my own basic programs in Ruby after going through it.  Not only did it teach the fundamental aspects of Ruby and object oriented languages, but it also taught proper syntax and proper etiquette for Ruby.

My programming hubz says that I could start to apply for programming jobs right now if I wanted to, but I think I'd feel more comfortable if I studied a bit more and made a few of my own programs... but I've already found out that I'm terrible at timing my job searches, so maybe he's right.

So, yep, if you want to learn Ruby or any kind of programming language, I'd start at codecademy.  It's free and pretty comprehensive. 

I can't decide what I should do next, but I do have a few projects in mind, such as starting a blog through Octopress and getting one of our old cryptocurrency miners up and running again, since it's a pretty efficient space heater.  Other than that, I think I'll continue with my cute little tentative list of Ruby study material, and maybe pick up a book or two.  "Learn Ruby the Hard Way" is up next on my list, but I might substitute in "Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby" just because it's absolutely adorable.

We'll see.  So far, free online study material for Ruby is amazing, and I'm impressed. :D

[n00b404]

Try Ruby

In my opinion, every person in the world with half an hour of free time should go to Try Ruby.  It teaches you the basics of programming Ruby in a cute and not at all boring context.  I think it's a good way to realize how useful programming is and can maybe also give you some motivation to try it out.

I've been lagging behind a little bit in my studies, and I've only finished Try Ruby since my last post (whoops).  I'm considering just buying a monthly Code School subscription because all of their learning programs are colorful and have cute, fun themes.  Also, they have badges, which is kind of fun, and I've been too lazy lately, so any form of motivation helps.  

I also want to get into studying Git pretty soon. :D

[n00b404]

Tentative Order of Ruby Study Material

1.) Try Ruby (I've already done this and it was great, and didn't take long, and I think it will be a great refresher.)

2.) Codecademy

3.) Learn Ruby the Hard Way

4.) Ruby in Twenty Minutes

5.) Ruby Monk

6.) Ruby Quiz A collection of quizzes as a challenge

7.) Code School Saving this for last (maybe) because it's $10/month, which is actually really inexpensive, but I know this is a really great resource and I want to be able to get the most out of it.  Code School also has git classes, which I'm super interested in.

I think this is PLENTY of material to study. 

[n00b404]

Ruby Koans

Just finished Ruby Koans.  I feel like it was a little bit advanced for me as a complete noob, but I still learned plenty about basic syntax and things like that.  Unfortunately, I ended up looking for help on most of the difficult challenges, but I still think even that helped me pick up a bit about the functionality of Ruby.  It didn't take too long to breeze through it, so I highly suggest Ruby Koans to someone that already knows other programming languages and is interested in picking up Ruby.  I would also slightly suggest it to a programming newb as a kind of head-first introduction to get your feet wet. [Does that last statement even make any sense? head=> feet?]  The structure of Koans is pretty interesting in that you can try to read through all of the code and solve the Koans through your own reasoning and logic, or you can paste all of the code into an irb and it will spit the answer back at you, so that is the reason why both newbs and advanced programmers can learn from it.

I think my next study material should be more text-based, so that I can wrap my head around all of the stuff I was exposed to in Koans.

[n00b404]

Starting Ruby

I'm starting to learn Ruby with Ruby Koans.  The structure is loosely based on Buddhism/the path to enlightenment.  Basically they want to plant the seeds of Ruby in your mind and have you meditate over them until you are "enlightened" with a keener sense of programming.  It's pretty neat because in each lesson, you start with a failed code.  Your first job is to correct the code, so that it's functional, then your final task is to "meditate" until you've come up with a better code (which can mean shorter, more explicit, more functional...)

So far Ruby Koans looks pretty crude to my untrained eye.  I downloaded it, and it's a program that's run in bash with associated .rb files to edit.  I think it should be good for me though, since I just finished an intro to shell.

My only worry is that this could be too in-depth for a noob, such as myself.  If I constantly have to look up what certain lines of code mean, then it could slow things down and get me pretty side-tracked.  More updates to come.