If you have done some web development before (maybe python, maybe php, maybe ASP 1.0) go read the getting started guides and get rolling. It's a big framework a

If you have done some web development before (maybe python, maybe php, maybe ASP 1.0) go read the getting started guides and get rolling. It's a big framework and there is a lot there but if this not your first rodeo it's not going to take long to get it. You know what MVC is and rails is just anther (good) web framework with some nice code generation to start you off fast. Oh and that ORM can be handy too! If you are new to Ruby or web dev I would suggest you first start with Sinatra (http://www.sinatrarb.com http://www.sinatrarb.com That will give you an idea of what basic basic web dev looks like in ruby without the overhead of a huge framework to take in. After you have a simple hello world running with Sinatra then see about adding an external gem. (Maybe the 'shotgun' gem mentioned on the Sinatra site) then learn about bundler http://gembundler.com http://gembundler.com and get Sinatra running with that setup. Look at the template languages (erb, haml) and play with those. When you find yourself playing with middleware then maybe look at rails and see what it has to offer. At this point you will already have a felling for how everything fits together with a rack based web app (Sinatra and Rails both use Rack) at a little lower level and I think you will have a better experience with rails and be more productive because of it. EDIT: Submissions that have links to articles with questions marks in the title are annoying. Thought it was an ask HN at first.