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cnandreu
2 min read

Getting Started with Ruby on Rails

Resources to help a new Rails developer get started: editors, learning Ruby, the Hartl tutorial, RailsCasts, and Code School.

Recently my brother got an internship at Treasure Data, a Silicon Valley startup that uses Ruby on Rails (RoR). I decided to write about a few resources to help him get started.

RubyMine or Sublime Text

The quickest way to get started with Ruby on Rails is to start with a good Integrated Development Environment (IDE). You can download RubyMine from JetBrains. It’s from the creators of the popular Java IDE called IntelliJ IDEA.

Check out RubyMine’s features. I’ll highlight a few of my favorites:

  • Type-ahead code suggestions (helps you learn the language)
  • Built-in debugger
  • Code refactoring and analysis capabilities
  • Version control integration (Git, SVN, Hg)

It’s not free, but there’s a 30-day trial.

Alternatively, download Sublime Text 2 and watch this screencast for ideas regarding usage and plugins.

Learn Ruby

RubyMonk is a fun site that helps you learn Ruby by completing various challenges. I highly recommend having some understanding of the language before diving into a big framework like Ruby on Rails.

Ruby on Rails Book

The Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl is simply amazing. It teaches you how to build a micro-blogging application like Twitter, Test Driven Development (TDD) with RSpec, Git, Github, Twitter Bootstrap, Heroku, and many other useful tools, services, and concepts. There’s also a screencast available.

Video Tutorials

RailsCasts.com contains many amazing video tutorials on a myriad of different topics, from APIs to security and testing. All the screencasts are about ~15 minutes long. The author also provides notes with valuable links, plus a text-only version of each video tutorial called an ASCIIcast.

I recommend starting with #310 Getting Started with Rails.

CodeSchool.com has a Ruby Path with various courses, from the very basics of Ruby to more advanced best practices for developing good Rails applications.

Other

NetTuts+ has a lot of useful articles on both Ruby and Ruby on Rails.

StackOverflow is a great place to ask questions. Make sure you provide a lot of information about your issue and what you’ve tried so far.