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Ask HN: Recommend a great book on Ruby on Rails for a Beginner

2 points by MarlonPro 15y ago

I have a great desire to learn building stuff with ruby on Rails. Let's just say I am a beginner although I have built (and currently building) simple GUI apps with C# on .Net (WinForm). I remained a newbie with C#. I want to revive my quest for programming. I was searching the net for info about good book to start with. Would you recommend any book for beginning Ruby on Rails? I was about to purchase "Agile Web Development with Rails" by Pragmatic Programmers from Amazon but I was discouraged by the many negative reviews. Any similar book recommendation to get me up to speed with ruby on Rails?

tfitzgerald 15y ago
Hartl's Ruby On Rails 3 Tutorial book is great, and available for free online: http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ http://ruby.railstutorial.org/
Aqua_Geek 15y ago
I would highly recommend Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl (http://ruby.railstutorial.org http://ruby.railstutorial.org). It's free to browse online or $26 for the PDF. There are also screencasts, if you're into that. The tutorial does a great job of introducing the various pieces of the Rails framework and how to get started.
MarlonPro 15y ago
@Aqua_Geek & @tfitzgerald yes, I already have that in my Chrome's bookmark. I also bookmarked the following: BOOKS + Why's (Poignant) Guide To Ruby (http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/) + Learn To Program (http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/) + The Book Of Ruby by Sapphire Steel Software (http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Book-Of-Ruby http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Book-Of-Ruby) + The Bastards Book of Ruby (http://ruby.bastardsbook.com/toc/ http://ruby.bastardsbook.com/toc/) BLOG TIPS ON RUBY + I'm basically following tips listed here: "5 Resources to Get Started with Ruby on Rails" (http://quickleft.com/blog/5-resources-to-get-started-with-ruby-on-rails http://quickleft.com/blog/5-resources-to-get-started-with-ru...) And, + "Best way to learn Ruby & Rails" (http://astonj.com/tech/best-way-to-learn-ruby-rails/ http://astonj.com/tech/best-way-to-learn-ruby-rails/) WEBCASTS/VIDEOS + I'll be watching "Rails for Zombies" (http://railsforzombies.org/ http://railsforzombies.org/) + Screencasts at rubyonrails.org And on the side, I am also re-reading "OOP Demystified" to get a better grasp on OOP. Is there any other particular book that is a must-book for a beginner? Or my list on top pretty much covered all a beginner should know about getting up to speed with Ruby on Rails?

2 points by MarlonPro 15y ago

tfitzgerald 15y ago

Hartl's Ruby On Rails 3 Tutorial book is great, and available for free online: http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ http://ruby.railstutorial.org/

Aqua_Geek 15y ago

I would highly recommend Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl (http://ruby.railstutorial.org http://ruby.railstutorial.org). It's free to browse online or $26 for the PDF. There are also screencasts, if you're into that. The tutorial does a great job of introducing the various pieces of the Rails framework and how to get started.

MarlonPro 15y ago

@Aqua_Geek & @tfitzgerald yes, I already have that in my Chrome's bookmark. I also bookmarked the following: BOOKS + Why's (Poignant) Guide To Ruby (http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/) + Learn To Program (http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/) + The Book Of Ruby by Sapphire Steel Software (http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Book-Of-Ruby http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Book-Of-Ruby) + The Bastards Book of Ruby (http://ruby.bastardsbook.com/toc/ http://ruby.bastardsbook.com/toc/) BLOG TIPS ON RUBY + I'm basically following tips listed here: "5 Resources to Get Started with Ruby on Rails" (http://quickleft.com/blog/5-resources-to-get-started-with-ruby-on-rails http://quickleft.com/blog/5-resources-to-get-started-with-ru...) And, + "Best way to learn Ruby & Rails" (http://astonj.com/tech/best-way-to-learn-ruby-rails/ http://astonj.com/tech/best-way-to-learn-ruby-rails/) WEBCASTS/VIDEOS + I'll be watching "Rails for Zombies" (http://railsforzombies.org/ http://railsforzombies.org/) + Screencasts at rubyonrails.org And on the side, I am also re-reading "OOP Demystified" to get a better grasp on OOP. Is there any other particular book that is a must-book for a beginner? Or my list on top pretty much covered all a beginner should know about getting up to speed with Ruby on Rails?