

'Learn Ruby on Rails' is free today - DanielKehoe
http://learn-rails.com/download-offer.html

======
MattyMc
It's been almost three years since I began spending nearly every available
evening and weekend learning code and web dev. It's been a great adventure.
However, contrary to the advice I was given I believe Ruby on Rails is not an
effective place to start learning web dev, it certainly wasn't for me.

When I started, I had limited knowledge of HTML and almost no experience with
CSS, Javascript, SQL or HTTP. I felt bombarded going through Michael Hartl's
book (ruby.railstutorial.org), for example, trying to pick up all the concepts
mentioned above plus the ideas of Unit Testing, ActiveRecord, the MVC
paradigm, Rake, GIT, Migrations, layouts, partials and UNIX, to name a few.
Nothing was sticking.

After now learning some programming fundamentals through an awesome Coursera
course, learning C++ and Python to make small game mechanic, digging into PHP
and launching a few fun websites, building a few projects with raw HTML and
CSS while having lots of fun with jQuery and Javascript I feel I am ready for
and can appreciate Rails. I'm now approximately 4-6 months from launching my
first commercial product and this book will be perfect for my current
purposes. I'm 25 pages in and can say that I love it's narrow focus (not
including unit tests, for example) and also it's thorough explanation of all
core concepts. I've backed the Kickstarter and can't to keep learning! Sorry
for the long post HN! Long time lurker, big fan.

~~~
jetblackio
That's interesting to hear. I'm a system administrator and would like to learn
web development. I was planning on starting with Rails. I know the basics of
HTML and CSS and am pretty experienced with SQL. Do you have a route of
learning you recommend?

~~~
MattyMc
If you have experience with SQL you might be far better off than I was. Try
starting with the book in this thread; it seems like an excellent starter book
and covers many concepts that frankly, myself and others had to piece together
from Stack Overflow questions. The best advice I can give you is to start with
a project; what do you want to make? If you're set on Rails, jump into Ruby
using the nice online book Learn Ruby the Hard Way. Consider checking out
Rails for Zombies for a nice, fun intro into Rails and then dive into the book
listed in this thread. Best of luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any
questions!

~~~
jetblackio
Thanks for the reply. I do have a couple pretty simple projects in mind. This
may be the impetus I need to go ahead and get started. Thanks!

------
DanielKehoe
Don't miss the "name the cat" contest. On the cover of the book, there is a
fluffy white cat who has no name. Rails developers are often playful and
light-hearted. The book (and the cat) reflects that spirit, not just to make
Rails less intimidating for beginners, but to give newcomers a feel for the
community.

[http://learn-rails.com/name-the-cat.html](http://learn-rails.com/name-the-
cat.html)

You can suggest a name for the cat until the Kickstarter campaign ends,
Saturday at 5pm Pacific Time.

------
markbao
Thanks for this. I already have tons of experience in Rails, but I learned by
doing and not through a book so I reckon I have some holes in my knowledge
here and there.

I'm experimenting with hybrid learning of both doing "learning by doing" by
doing projects and "learning by the textbook" by getting the foundational
ideas behind Ruby and Rails, and seeing if there is a benefit to combining
these two systems, for my own purposes of learning languages and learning in
general, and to have something to say to the many friends that I have that
want to learn Rails :)

This looks like a pretty comprehensive beginner doc, so thanks for that!
Backed it on KS.

~~~
markbao
Turns out I don't really have any holes in my knowledge that needed to be
plugged from this doc, but this is a solid resource for those learning Rails.
Very detailed.

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timobile
This is a really good book for teaching beginners Ruby on Rails. But, in my
opinion, what makes it stand out compared to a lot of other books on this
topic is the following:

I'm using Rails for a few years now and I still have problems to figure out
where to start when I have to explain it to somebody who doesn't know anything
about it.

Many books just throw their readers into a topic. This causes a lot of
confusion early on, which will (hopefully) be reduced while reading the book.
I don't like that approach very much.

I think, this book here does it the right way: It first explains the web and
by which technologies it is driven. Then it tells how Rails fits into the
picture.

What I also really like are the short explanations of user stories, software
development methodologies and agile methodologies. I think it is important
that new developers have at least heard about those topics even though they
may not know how to use them in the beginning.

Good work!

------
rartichoke
I started working with rails a few months ago. I skimmed the book in about 3
hours from start to finish while skipping the parts I knew I was comfortable
with.

The book is really good and 100% worth reading if you're new to rails. I hope
the author gets his money from kickstarter because he deserves it.

------
code_chimp
I backed the KickStarter near the beginning of this campaign to get access to
alpha version of the book so I could review it for a few "new to web
programming" friends of mine. I thought it was a really good resource for my
friends that already program in something (say Windows Forms) and wanted to
make the leap to doing web applications. Thanks Daniel!

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cabbeer
Thanks, would it be possible to get it in MOBI format. (I have bad experience
converting coding books in calibre)

~~~
sandGorgon
second this - I would like all my books to be readable on the computer, phone
and the kindle. PDF is really bad for this and would really prefer .mobi

~~~
DanielKehoe
The mobi version will come with the final release. I'm not happy with the
formatting of the code samples in mobi so I'm looking for good production
tools (I'm using the kitabu gem now).

------
will_lam
I'm a backer of Daniel Kehoe's Learn Ruby on Rails ebook on Kickstarter. While
I'm certainly not coming from a background of vast experience, I've tried
other resources such as Treehouse (which is great by the way), it is VERY
approachable and would lend itself to newbies and Product Managers who are
learning to become more technical. After a break from Treehouse, I forgot most
of the concepts as the stuff I learned had atrophied. When I needed to start
fresh, and from a different perspective, his ebook is a great starting point
for the absolute beginner.

I think it's awesome that Daniel opened up for people to download the ebook
for free. I don't mind the $18 that I ponied up because I believe the value
I've received is far beyond that.

------
MrBra
Why in the book there is not even a paragraph on how to create an
authorization system and session management?

~~~
DanielKehoe
Sad to say, based on my experience teaching weekend classes, it's difficult to
introduce authorization or sessions in a book that's designed for beginners to
read in a weekend. "Learn Ruby on Rails" is intended to prepare newcomers for
more advanced books. Michael Hartl's book covers authorization so it is a good
follow-on.

------
BorisMelnik
the largest barrier to entry for newcomers wanting to learn rails is getting a
dev environment setup

~~~
cdmwebs
This is where tools like [https://www.nitrous.io](https://www.nitrous.io) are
awesome. We just hosted a RailsBridge-type event and we used Nitrous. Highly
recommend this for teaching.

~~~
DanielKehoe
Here's my article about getting started with Rails on Nitrous.io:

[http://railsapps.github.io/rubyonrails-nitrous-
io.html](http://railsapps.github.io/rubyonrails-nitrous-io.html)

Nitrous.io is a great way for any beginner to get started, especially for
those using Windows.

------
hery
Daniel, how far will you go with TDD on this book? What resource will you
recommend to continue learning TDD after the intro in this book?

Will you consider writing another book in the same spirit as this one (for
beginners & kept up-to-date) for rails with TDD?

~~~
DanielKehoe
TDD is one of the big issues in the pedagogy of teaching Rails. Teach it from
the start (Hartl)? Ignore it (most lightweight intros)? Or find a way to
introduce it without intimidating beginners? My approach (in a forthcoming
chapter) is to encourage testing literacy, that is, to show beginners how to
read test code and run tests, so they will be prepared for further study.
Michael Hartl's book is good to read after "Learn Ruby on Rails." I also
recommend these three books (the first is the newest):

* Aaron Sumner, "Everyday Rails Testing with RSpec" [https://leanpub.com/everydayrailsrspec](https://leanpub.com/everydayrailsrspec)

* Noel Rappin, "Rails Test Prescriptions" [http://pragprog.com/book/nrtest/rails-test-prescriptions](http://pragprog.com/book/nrtest/rails-test-prescriptions)

* Chelimsky and friends, "The RSpec Book" [http://pragprog.com/book/achbd/the-rspec-book](http://pragprog.com/book/achbd/the-rspec-book)

Other resources? How did you learn TDD for Rails?

~~~
hery
I didn't :)

I use Python/Django and thinking of learning Rails, preferably with TDD.
Thanks for the list, I'm sure it will be useful!

PS. I backed your campaign.

------
ananth99
Thanks! I'm a Rails newbie and this seems to be extremely useful. :)

------
JSno
to be honest, this is a just ok book. For ROR beginners, stick with Micheal's
tutorial. [http://ruby.railstutorial.org/](http://ruby.railstutorial.org/)

~~~
sergiotapia
Disagree, tried to get my brother to learn Rails using this tutorial and got
stuck configuring Git and his remote Github repository. It introduces waaaaay
too much information that a beginner doesn't really care about.

Git repositories, test driven development, etc are all things a beginner
doesn't care about and doesn't really need to know about when starting out.

~~~
DanielKehoe
Just to clarify. My "Learn Ruby on Rails" covers git and GitHub. Readers tell
me they like the "time traveler" analog I use to introduce git in a gentle
way. My book is for beginners who want to learn real-world Rails, so it covers
professional practices including git, user stories, project management,
configuration, using APIs, and more.

------
tux
for anyone who hate registrations for downloads ^_^ [http://learn-
rails.com/ebooks/learn-rails.pdf](http://learn-rails.com/ebooks/learn-
rails.pdf)

~~~
DanielKehoe
Here's why I ask you to register to download the book:

1) After working on the book for six months, I'd like to be able to follow up
and ask you to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign if you like the book.

2) You are downloading an advance edition of a book that contains code that is
likely to change. Within the next week or two, I will release an updated
version. I'd like to be able to notify you when the update is available.

3) I am only giving the book away for free for one day, to promote the
Kickstarter campaign. If you are willing to provide your email address in
exchange for a free copy of the book I am grateful. If you are not, Michael
Hartl offers an excellent introduction to Rails that does not require
registration or an email address:

[http://ruby.railstutorial.org/](http://ruby.railstutorial.org/)

~~~
sigzero
Yes, but why do I have to create an account? I don't want another one off
account somewhere.

~~~
ihuman
So they they can send you unwanted emails. There is no such thing as a free
lunch. In order for you to get the book, you have to give away your contact
information.

~~~
DanielKehoe
"They" is me, a solo author who gave up six months of consulting income to
produce a book to help Rails beginners. Would you care to contribute to the
Kickstarter campaign so the book can reach the people who need it? What do you
wish to offer in exchange? How about even offering a thank you? Or do you feel
you are entitled to enjoy my work, offering nothing in exchange, and
encouraging other people to act with no respect or thanks?

~~~
jamesbritt
I understand why you want an E-mail address in exchange for the book. What I
don't understand is why, in addition to that E-mail address, do people have to
create an _account_ of some kind? Why not just the E-mail address?

The "Get the Book" page does not explain any of this, and left me puzzled as
to what I was creating an account for.

