# Help for Newbie **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [September 11, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345 "2006-09-11T23:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/1 "2006-09-11T23:05:35Z")
Hi All, This may sound strange, but I am looking to get out of my sales career and into web development - I’m looking for a bit of career help and direction around what technologies I should learn to get where I want to go… so far, Ruby on Rails seems like a very compelling choice… but at the same time a bit daunting for a newbie. I’ve been reading about RoR for about 6 months now. Ever since I found out that 37signals was based in Chicago (my hometown), I saw the possibility for me to do something interesting with the internet and not have to live in the Bay Area… I’m interested in doing one or more of a few things: 1. Working as a freelance developer - doing contract work either from an office or from a remote location (i.e. the beach) 2. Creating my own application(s), or applications with a team of people to hopefully leverage into a profitable business (so I can spend more time on the beach/travelling/playing with kids/etc). 3. Learning these technologies so that I can figure out what sorts of business problems are solvable with technology and create those solutions. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering but haven’t done engineering in almost 7 years so I’m kind of starting from scratch. While at U of Illinois, I really enjoyed my programming (C & C++) classes but haven’t done anything with that in years. I just took an online Javascript class and really enjoyed it. I’ve been playing around with Ruby and have been getting into it… I am looking to learn technologies that will help me make some of my internet business ideas into a reality. I’d appreciate any advice on: 1. A roadmap of technologies that I should know? (i.e. if I want to learn Ruby on Rails, what else do I need to know understand (assuming I know nothing)) Also, what other technologies should I learn to make myself a well-rounded web developer / web application developer? 2. What are my prospects of making money as a developer (i.e. what are typical pay ranges and what kinds of lifestyle/workstyle do people have (work in offices? work from home? free time? what is the best recommended way to set up your freelance business - what kinds of jobs to take on, etc.)) 3. Any other resources I should use? Web forums, Chat rooms, books, websites, blogs? Thanks in advance for the help… I apologize if I’m posting this in the wrong place. -Dustin Ps - The reason I’m looking to get into RoR & development is because I think it’s something I would enjoy and be good at - of course, that remains to be seen… But, it’s the thing I’m most excited about right now… ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/2 "2006-09-11T23:35:14Z")
Dustin A. wrote: > 1. A roadmap of technologies that I should know? (i.e. if I want to > learn Ruby on Rails, what else do I need to know understand (assuming I > know nothing)) Also, what other technologies should I learn to make > myself a well-rounded web developer / web application developer? Must have: - General understanding of programming (sounds like you have that already). - HTML - CSS - Ruby Good to have: - SQL (while you can code in Rails without using SQL statements, an understanding of SQL is very helpful in coding with Rails) - JavaScript (again Rails makes it easy to code without JavaScript. But understanding some JS will help you decipher and debug Rails code - your own and others’ - , build your own Rails helpers more easily, etc.) - XML (depending on what you’re developping) Additionally: - You may need specific technologies depending on what you’re developping for, such as SOAP, etc. - If you delpoy as well then you need to understand a bit about web servers like Mongrel, Apache, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/3 "2006-09-11T23:39:15Z")
I’m going down a sort of similar road. I’ve been developing software for 10+ years, but only now have I begun thinking about switching from doing server-side/mid-tier stuff to more cutting edge web development. I’m a long way from any sort of expert on anything, but I think my advice will be ok for a noob. First, and maybe most obvious would be to learn HTML and CSS. 🙂 I’d also grab a beginner’s book on MySql and learn as much as you can about relational databases. You’ll learn a lot as you learn Rails, but if you’re a true noob it’s a really important place to start learning. Go through some tutorials on common linux shell commands. I’m coming from a Windows world and it’s been a pain having to look up every single thing I need to do when I ssh into my ISP. You can develop Rails on windows, but I’m not aware of any ISP that runs Rails on Windows. If you don’t already have it, get the 2nd edition (right now only available as a PDF) of the Agile Web D. with Rails book from the Pragmatic Programmers website. It’s the single best reference to start with. Honestly, I think as a noob, that’s MORE than enough to start with. Don’t make my mistake of trying to bite off way more than you can chew. Get familiar with HTML and CSS first - I highly recommend the HeadFirst HTML/CSS book from O’Reilly. Then learn all about relational databases. Take your time and have fun! On 9/11/06, Dustin A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I’ve been reading about RoR for about 6 months now. Ever since I found > people to hopefully leverage into a profitable business (so I can spend > > wrong place. > > > – Terry (TAD) Donaghe [http://www.tadspot.com](http://www.tadspot.com) > **[太阳集团0638开头的网址✅【欢迎下载】](http://www.rubynoob.com)** > > 太阳集团0638开头的网址是一家创办历史悠久并且具有非常高的知名度的在线网娱乐平台为大家提供一个良好的彩票交流平台。 ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/4 "2006-09-11T23:57:18Z")
Dustin, At first I thought it sounded strange but then you posted. I’m attempting to make a similar move 🙂 Good luck with the new endeavor! Stuart ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/5 "2006-09-12T00:01:18Z")
On 9/11/06, Terry D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I’m going down a sort of similar road. I’ve been developing software for > 10+ years, but only now have I begun thinking about switching from doing > server-side/mid-tier stuff to more cutting edge web development. I’m a long > way from any sort of expert on anything, but I think my advice will be ok > for a noob. > > First, and maybe most obvious would be to learn HTML and CSS. 🙂 And Javascript. > You can develop Rails on windows, but > I’m not aware of any ISP that runs Rails on Windows. Developing Rails apps on windoze in no way prevents you from deploying to something else. I develop my personal Rails apps on a Mac and deploy to a Gentoo Linux box for example. > If you don’t already have it, get the 2nd edition (right now only available > as a PDF) of the Agile Web D. with Rails book from the Pragmatic > Programmers website. It’s the single best reference to start with. Ruby for Rails by David Black is very beginner level also. – Greg D. [http://destiney.com/](http://destiney.com/) ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/6 "2006-09-12T00:25:21Z")
On 9/11/06, Greg D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > You can develop Rails on windows, but > > I’m not aware of any ISP that runs Rails on Windows. > > Developing Rails apps on windoze in no way prevents you from deploying > to something else. I develop my personal Rails apps on a Mac and > deploy to a Gentoo Linux box for example. Yup, but the problems I’ve run into are just in accessing stuff on the linux box. If you’re a total noob it’s pretty confusing when you type “dir” and find out that doesn’t do what you think it should. Simple things like that are the reason I recommend becoming somewhat comfortable with getting around in linux. I still have no idea how something like this works, though: ps ux | awk ‘/(lighttpd|dispatch)/ {print $2}’ | xargs kill -9 That just looks mostly like gobbledygook to me. The great thing about coming from a Mac background is you already know (maybe) all about “ls -l” and things that work on your linux ssh account. – Terry (TAD) Donaghe [http://www.tadspot.com](http://www.tadspot.com) > **[太阳集团0638开头的网址✅【欢迎下载】](http://www.rubynoob.com)** > > 太阳集团0638开头的网址是一家创办历史悠久并且具有非常高的知名度的在线网娱乐平台为大家提供一个良好的彩票交流平台。 ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/7 "2006-09-12T00:29:21Z")
On 11 Sep 2006, at 22:05, Dustin A. wrote: > This may sound strange, but I am looking to get out of my sales career > and into web development - I’m looking for a bit of career help and > direction around what technologies I should learn to get where I > want to > go… so far, Ruby on Rails seems like a very compelling choice… but > at the same time a bit daunting for a newbie. > > 1. Working as a freelance developer - doing contract work either from > an office or from a remote location (i.e. the beach) You need a track record to get these gigs (in my experience). That means either some menial work in someone’s office, or visible apps you have developed yourself. There is a disturbing trend to see job ads aimed at web designers that ask for Ruby on Rails experience - IMHO this isn’t a very likely combination of skills; any business trying to combine those skill sets probably doesn’t understand what they are asking for (although there are some excellent developers who can do both…). > 1. Creating my own application(s), or applications with a team of > people to hopefully leverage into a profitable business (so I can > spend > more time on the beach/travelling/playing with kids/etc). You don’t mention your sales background, but most developers lack skills in selling, and, more importantly, don’t want to have them. This may be the easiest way in for you, but is unlikely to lead into programming if you are actually successful at it. > I’d appreciate any advice on: > > 1. A roadmap of technologies that I should know? (i.e. if I want to > learn Ruby on Rails, what else do I need to know understand > (assuming I > know nothing)) Also, what other technologies should I learn to make > myself a well-rounded web developer / web application developer? As an experienced freelance, you should understand HTML, CSS, SQL, AJAX and Javascript, more or less in that order. Specifically MySQL for working with Rails. You should be able to deploy your apps on your own servers (MacOS X or Linux - probably Debian) as well as hosted servers. So some basic Unix command line knowledge required. You’ll almost certainly want to develop on MacOS X, anyway. Alongside Rails you’ll want to know about web servers - Apache, Mongrel; version control - Subversion; and deployment tools - Capistrano. General programming knowledge, of course; Object Oriented programming to a reasonable level (ie, not C++). Ruby is a given. If you want to be seen as competent, good Ruby knowledge is important. > 1. What are my prospects of making money as a developer (i.e. what > are > typical pay ranges and what kinds of lifestyle/workstyle do people > have > (work in offices? work from home? free time? what is the best > recommended way to set up your freelance business - what kinds of jobs > to take on, etc.)) Programming salaries in this general area at a reasonable level are less than half what they were 5-10 years ago, and don’t look like they will be going up anytime soon. Entry level salaries have held their own - ie, at a low level. Blame India, if you want to (I wouldn’t, but it’s a popular pick). I would of course welcome any concrete evidence to the contrary on pay scales :-). > 1. Any other resources I should use? Web forums, Chat rooms, books, > websites, blogs? This mailing list and the ruby-talk one. There have been a couple of lists of blogs posted recently; [www.planetrubyonrails.org](http://www.planetrubyonrails.org) aggregates most of them. Books: ransack the Pragmatic Programmers library - you’ll want their books on Ruby, Rails, Unit testing, version control, and the original The Pragmatic Programmer, at least. Kernighan and Pike’s The Practice of Programming is sort of a master’s level coverage of the same topics. You want the O’Reilly books on HTML, CSS and Javascript. You should also look at O’Reilly’s “Head First” books on HTML/CSS, AJAX and whatever else - although they have a very particular style that I personally hate. I’d also add in David Black’s Ruby For Rails, and the O’Reilly Ruby Cookbook. Paul ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/8 "2006-09-12T04:10:29Z")
Thanks Paul, François, Terry, Greg, Stuart… very helpful and much appreciated!!! ---
**Author:** ![dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@dkanders](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dkanders)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-for-newbie/68345/9 "2006-09-12T01:09:26Z")
> > 1. Any other resources I should use? Web forums, Chat rooms, books, > > websites, blogs? Besides what’s been mentioned, there is a lot of very helpful free information online about HTML, CSS and JavaScript - tutorials, references, etc. You might find all you need there without having to actuall buy books on those. [www.htmldog.com](http://www.htmldog.com) is a good one, as are many others.