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ASK HN: (click on link to view question, duh!) Learn web development?

• pclark 18y ago
  consider ruby on rails : http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/10/13/what_is_rails.html?page=1 http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/10/13/what_is_rails.... read this : http://poignantguide.net/ruby/ http://poignantguide.net/ruby/ then buy these : http://peepcode.com/products/rails-from-scratch-part-i http://peepcode.com/products/rails-from-scratch-part-i
  • agrinshtein 18y ago
    So you think I would be able to build a site like this merely through learning RoR? I was playing around with RoR with Agile Rails by D.H. Hansson etc... Was having problems upgrading my Ruby on my Mac through the command line. I have played around and tinkered but to no avail. I simple havent been able to get it installed.
    • pclark 18y ago
      you could easily make this site (or something very similar) in RoR. I assume you're on leopard? something like this tutorial should set you up - http://danbenjamin.com/articles/2008/02/ruby-rails-leopard http://danbenjamin.com/articles/2008/02/ruby-rails-leopard make sure you install the apple developer tools before doing stuff though. They're on the OS X disk and also on the apple developer connection website.
• pclark 18y ago
  PS - we're aware of how Ask HN topics work, might wanna put the brief subject in title :)
• pclark 18y ago
  also, you could learn python (theres a 'famous' web project called django) -- reddit.com is a site very similar to this one, and its open source. Great way to learn code. http://code.reddit.com/ http://code.reddit.com/ # download and hack away :)
• agrinshtein 18y ago
  Hey Pclark, thanks! I recently purchased an upgrade to Leopard and I never got a cd with XCODE, I would love to download it however being from a country with capped internet it is a significant amount of bandwidth. I don't think I have it installed, is that a make it or break it for Ruby? Would PHP do the job as well? Thanks again, Aron
  • pclark 18y ago
    you might find ruby and rails are included in leopard. Open terminal and type: ruby -v and then: rails -v PHP would be ideal too.
• mcxx 18y ago
  It is not just about learning a language and some framework, though it's a good start. I'd recommend Python + Django. As you go, learn about software design, HTTP (RFC 2616 http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html), Javascript (http://javascript.crockford.com/ http://javascript.crockford.com/) and preferably also some JS library (jQuery being my favorite), web app security (https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_Testing_Project#OWASP_Testing_Guide_v3 https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_Testing_Proje...) and more... But most important, learn by doing. Start building something, no matter how unsignificant it may appear, right now. You will learn on the fly ;)
  • agrinshtein 18y ago
    Thanks for that. Unclear...you recommend Python and DJango? "But most important, learn by doing. Start building something, no matter how unsignificant it may appear, right now. You will learn on the fly ;)" That is exactly what I want to do, I want to build a site like this one. How long do you think it would take to figure out how to learn a language with the capabilities to do that? I am a quick learner and am persistent.
    • mcxx 18y ago
      Python is easy to learn, even if you don't have previous experience. Check out some tutorials (note - I recommend learning Python 2.6, forget about Python3 for now): http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ http://docs.python.org/using/ http://docs.python.org/using/ http://python.org/doc/ http://python.org/doc/ http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html After learning the basics, take a deeper look into Django: http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ http://www.djangobook.com/ http://www.djangobook.com/ You should be able to build an app like newsYC in a week or so.
      • agrinshtein 18y ago
        Have you had experience with RoR? it seems like people are really touting it. How would you compare that with python and django? "You should be able to build an app like newsYC in a week or so." -- WOW is it that simple? thanks again for your help
• agrinshtein 18y ago
  pclark, I just figured out that XCODE is on the installer CD, it doesnt ship as a separate one. Woops, that should have been obvious. Again, thanks for pitching in to help a newbie to the programming world. Aron