How to Get Started with Ruby on Rails?

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Faraz Mirza

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Aug 25, 2016, 12:46:26 PM8/25/16
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Hey Guys!

I am a Computer Science student. I know basic programming and Object-Oriented concepts. I have some experience in web development but have no clue about RoR. I wish to learn it. I have installed Ruby 2.2 and Rails 5 on windows. Should I download an IDE? if yes, which one? The tutorials I find are mostly for Linux or Mac. Can anyone recommend some good links where i can get started? I would really appreciate it! 

Norm Scherer

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Aug 25, 2016, 6:59:09 PM8/25/16
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The easy way to get started is to install a virtual machine running some version of Linux or set up your computer to dual boot with a version of Linux.  It is generally held that Windows is not a great platform for ROR development.   I would use VirtualBox and load Ubuntu Mate but that is my personal preference.  There are many choices and most will work a lot better than Windows.  Most developers do not use an IDE.

Norm


On 08/25/2016 08:32 AM, Faraz Mirza wrote:
Hey Guys!

I am a Computer Science student. I know basic programming and Object-Oriented concepts. I have some experience in web development but have no clue about RoR. I wish to learn it. I have installed Ruby 2.2 and Rails 5 on windows. Should I download an IDE? if yes, which one? The tutorials I find are mostly for Linux or Mac. Can anyone recommend some good links where i can get started? I would really appreciate it! 

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Greg Navis

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Aug 26, 2016, 4:00:00 AM8/26/16
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My recommendations would be:

1. What Norm said: find a Linux or OS X box and set up your development environment here.
2. Learn basic Ruby first. You can try the pickaxe book or rubymonk.com.
3. Don't use an IDE. Choose a simple text editor that will get out of your way (Sublime Text, Notepad++, TextMate). Don't try learning two difficult things at a time so if you don't know Vim or Emacs don't use them.
4. For learning Rails try starting with https://www.railstutorial.org/
5. Read the docs at http://guides.rubyonrails.org/. Read it cover to cover. You won't remember everything but you'll have an idea what's possible and where to look for help.

Ad Rienks

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Aug 26, 2016, 4:36:12 AM8/26/16
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Not long ago I had the same question. What I recommend is Michael Hartl´s tutorial: https://www.railstutorial.org/ You get a Cloud 9 development environment with it, and it's all for free!

Op donderdag 25 augustus 2016 18:46:26 UTC+2 schreef Faraz Mirza:

Emmanuel Abia

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Aug 26, 2016, 4:54:56 AM8/26/16
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I agree with the suggestion about linux been better than windows. I use both linux and windows platforms. If you have to use windows try "Visual Code" works fine for me. The tutorials mentioned by others are great.


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Ying Ming

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Aug 26, 2016, 10:08:04 AM8/26/16
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I agree with other suggestions, go get a Linux VM or just use Cloud9 first. And, if you have access to Lynda.com. Ruby On Rail 4 Essential Training is really great for beginners. I learned RoR from this Lynda.com course. Remember to do every steps the instructor did yourself, it's the most import step! 

Brendon

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Aug 26, 2016, 2:05:41 PM8/26/16
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Linux or Mac are the way to go for almost any non-windows centric development. Vagrant or Virtual Box work really well and more recently I've started using Docker which is awesome.

I can't believe that people say not to use an IDE, that is like saying that writing documents would best be done with a pen and paper! IntelliJ has a great tool in their product and there is a Rails focussed stripped down version called RubyMine. It has context-sensitive completion, all kinds of style and formatting rules, built-in debugger support, model dependency maps, etc, etc. It also supports very simple refactoring of your code, extracting methods, etc. Basically, it is a proper tool for development if you are doing anything complicated. Certainly, you don't need to use *this* tool, but using a tool that can help you code faster and refactor with fewer mistakes is a huge time saver.

There are many online tutorials for learning rails as well as paid courses (I'm a mentor for one of them). But the bottom line about coding is you ONLY learn it by doing stuff. So implement your own version of Yelp or some similar site if you don't have a project in mind. Build it and you will learn. Tutorials are helpful when you are trying to solve that problem in your project. So build stuff.

Good luck,
Brendon.

Joe Guerra

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Sep 30, 2016, 11:09:56 AM9/30/16
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The easiest way is to sign up for a free account on c9.io.

You get 2 workspaces and everything is configured for you to start working on ruby on rails projects. (and you can access it anywhere.)

Try some free udemy rails courses.


On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 12:46:26 PM UTC-4, Faraz Mirza wrote:

Yinka Ash a.k.a Netguru

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Sep 30, 2016, 11:45:05 AM9/30/16
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I would strongly recommend www.tryruby.org to get acquainted with ruby on rails.


On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 12:46:26 PM UTC-4, Faraz Mirza wrote:

Walter Lee Davis

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Sep 30, 2016, 5:40:53 PM9/30/16
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I second try ruby for learning the fundamentals of the Ruby language itself, but for Rails I recommend https://railstutorial.org which will walk you through creating a non-trivial application, with tests.

Walter

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Anagha R

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Oct 6, 2016, 7:29:57 AM10/6/16
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Hello

I would recommend you to install linux on a virtual machine.The following link  is a good tutorial which will cover the basics  http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html .

Brendon

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Oct 7, 2016, 12:03:17 PM10/7/16
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I've actually using Docker for development. It makes things really easy to move things around, and is much lighter weight on the resources than a VM.
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