

Ask HN: What is the best resource for learning Ruby? - piratebroadcast

There seem to be a lot of options. I have started&#x2F;tried but it isnt quite sticking for me yet. Would really really appreciate any advice.
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dutchrapley
What is your background? Do you have any experience with other programming
languages you can relate to? What is the purpose of learning Ruby?

First and foremost, you are the best resource for learning Ruby. Lean by
doing.

1) Work through
[http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/book&#x2F](http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/book&#x2F);
then work through it again.

2) Then pick up David A. Black's The Well Grounded Rubyist. Read it to fill in
the blanks, then read it again to pick up the tidbits you missed the first go
around.

3) Find other people. Look for guidance. Look for a mentor. Look for a users
group (ruby brigade) in your area where you can find others to ask questions
and advice on the topics that stump you the most.

~~~
piratebroadcast
Thanks. I have built sites in Wordpress, so front end experience, but Ruby
will be my first programming language.

~~~
dutchrapley
That being the case and if you want to get started with Ruby in the context of
web sites/applications, take a look at Michael Hartl's book -
[http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-
book](http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book) \- working
through this will help you feel like you're making progress (again, learn by
doing). If there's something you find that you don't understand about the ruby
language (i.e. symbols, booleans, etc.), I'm sure you'll find the answer and
explanation in The Well Grounded Rubyist.

Do this after working through Learn Ruby the Hard Way.

Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book is also a great intro to the language
-
[http://humblelittlerubybook.com/book/html/index.html](http://humblelittlerubybook.com/book/html/index.html)

~~~
logical42
For new programmers, I'd personally recommend 'eloquent ruby' over 'the well
grounded rubyist' not because its better but because I believe it to be more
accessible to those without a ton of programming experience.

I actually love the well grounded rubyist and definitely think all ruby devs
should read it eventually but hesitate to recommend it to someone new to
programming.

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georgebonnr
There are a multitude of resources - I am still learning, but the biggest
difference I have come across so far is taking a course with classmates and a
mentor/instructor at www.rubylearning.org. The material is very similar to
other resources (such as Chris Pine's Learn to Program, which is excellent),
but simply having a knowledgable tutor to give feedback on your solutions to
exercises and nudge you towards new (better) lines of thinking is invaluable.
I would recommend reading through Pine's Learn to Program perhaps concurrently
with the Treehouse Ruby track, and then taking an actual course at
rubylearning.com (~$50).

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runjake
[https://encrypted.google.com/#q=site:news.ycombinator.com+le...](https://encrypted.google.com/#q=site:news.ycombinator.com+learn+ruby)

This has been asked over and over again. The last time I remember was 5 days
ago. That's the best resource.

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bdfh42
The eBook - LittleBookOfRuby is great. No cost and a great intro.
[http://www.SAPHIRESTEEL.com](http://www.SAPHIRESTEEL.com)

~~~
ameister14
[http://sapphiresteel.com](http://sapphiresteel.com); might be what you meant
to link

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danso
How much programming experience do you have? Are you looking to learn it as
someone moving from a different language (PHP, C, JS, etc.), or as someone
completely new to programming?

