

Resources for Getting Started with Ruby on Rails - danishkhan
http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2010/resources-for-getting-started-with-ruby-on-rails/

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DanI-S
I started learning Rails a few months ago, just before version 3 came out. My
#1 tip - install Ruby Version Manager! Playing around with various different
versions of Ruby, Rails and various gems, I managed to get my setup into a
pretty broken state more than once. RVM lets you manage multiple Ruby installs
on the same machine, which basically means that if you screw something up (or
find out that a gem you needed to use won't work right with your version of
Ruby/Rails) you don't have to reconfigure your entire machine.

If I had taken the time to install it straight away I would have saved a lot
of wasted effort.

~~~
danishkhan
haha, yea RVM is an amazing tool. I'm working on creating a tutorial for
setting up your local machine to have it ready to start working on RoR. I just
need to do a little more research about the best ways to do it for Windows
since that is an OS I'm not to familiar with.

~~~
drewda
A tutorial would be great. I couldn't figure RVM out from the messy docs; had
to have others step me through the install and set-up process.

~~~
steveklabnik
On Windows? rvm is *NIX only. You can use Pik, though:
<https://github.com/vertiginous/pik>

Here's my 'rvm tutorial in a HN comment':

To install rvm, run this:

    
    
        $ bash < <( curl http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/releases/rvm-install-head )
    

Then add this to your .bashrc, at the bottom:

    
    
        [[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" 
    

Open a new shell and you should be golden. Never 'sudo gem install' again!

To install any Ruby, 'rvm install 1.9.2', for example. To switch Rubies, 'rvm
1.9.2'.

That's it! Pretty easy. I like to take two further steps, though: create a
gemset per application, and set up .rvmrc files to switch to the right ruby
automatically.

To do the gemset thing, 'rvm gemset create gemset_name'. You can switch to a
specific gemset at the time you switch rubies with 'rvm 1.9.2@gemset_name', or
after with 'rvm gemset use gemset_name'

Once you've got that going, make a '.rvmrc' file in the root of your project,
and put in it the rvm command to switch to your ruby/gemset. "echo 'rvm
1.9.2@gemset_name' > .rvmrc" is probably the easiest way to do this. Then,
when you switch to your project, you're in the correct ruby and gemset
automatically. When you have 9 or 10 projects on 4 different Rubies, this
helps a lot...

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pdelgallego
There are other places with nice screencasts, like :

\- Teach me to code: <http://teachmetocode.com/>

\- Lernivore: (this is an aggregator) <http://learnivore.com/>

Even they are not rails specific I found this interesting:

\- Katacasts: <http://katacasts.com/>

\- Remi: <http://remi.org/> (I think he has stop uploading anything new)

\- Vimcast: <http://vimcasts.org/>

\- Ruby Pulse: <http://rubypulse.com/>

I also like to check out Confreaks to see the sessions of some conferences

<http://confreaks.net/events>

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jim_h
I also recommend this website for a good collection of blogs entries daily.
<http://www.planetrubyonrails.com/>

Good list. There's a few sites I haven't been to yet. Not a fan of bit.ly
links though. I like knowing exactly where the links are going to

~~~
danishkhan
Yea, I realize that know. I think I'm going to add the urls next to the links
so people know where they are going.

~~~
spicyj
Why use shortened links at all if no users have to type them? You've added the
complete links now, but they're not clickable.

~~~
aidanf
Indeed. This is really bizarre behaviour. The full links are shown in non-
clickble text beside the links. But the links actually point to shortened
bit.ly links. What's the point of using shortened links here at all?

~~~
epochwolf
from the comments on the blog:

\-- quote --

Hey Matt,

Thanks, glad you find it useful. My reasoning for the bit.ly links is so that
I can see what types of resources readers of the EY blog find interesting so
that I can cater future posts and tutorials with that in mind. I know that
google analytics does the same thing, but I myself do not have access to that
and all I need to know is what links were clicked on not everything else.

I did not expect people to find the bit.ly links annoying. Is there something
about them I am missing? I wouldn't have done it if I thought people would
find it to be an annoyance.

\-- end quote --

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macco
If you are a beginner, the rails tutorial is just awesome. It describes every
step you take - really, really great stuff.

~~~
BvS
Do you mean: <http://railstutorial.org/>

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danishkhan
I updated the post so that you know where the links are taking you.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
In case you find it useful:

<http://www.learnivore.com> aggregates most of the ruby/rails programming
screencasts I could find (disclaimer: I'm running this site).

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danishkhan
I have updated the post to have the base url for all the resources. My
apologizes to the creators of those resources. My intentions were never to
take away from your PageRanks.

Also, I will be adding resources recommended by people in the comments on the
post, HN, and Reddit shortly. So if you have any you want added let me know
soon.

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timinman
WPGTR: <http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/>

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danishkhan
Updated the post to include suggestions by commenters on the blog, HN, and
twitter.

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cantbecool
Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby and Foundation of Rails 2, should be on that
list.

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marcamillion
That link doesn't work for me. Anyone else having issues?

