# How easy is Rails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 17, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889 "2007-02-17T07:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889/1 "2007-02-17T07:53:53Z")
I know nothing about programming - I mean, I can distinguish the difference between different programming languages, but that’s about it. I run Fedora Core 6 and can do basic web-design. What I want to do is create a web-based point and click collaboration source for musicians. Essentially person A could record a demo on his home recording setup, and upload it or share it in some way with person B somewhere else. Its useability would lie in its ability to parse an XML file from the home recording setup, manage individual wav files (perhaps compress them along the way), and collaborate in an easy and productive manner. I realise I’m going to have to write some code if I want to get this done, and Rails sounds like it might be just the thing I need. My question is, with the above project in mind, how successful do you think I could be if Rails was the first programming language I’ll learn? ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 8:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889/2 "2007-02-17T08:38:55Z")
> My question is, with the above project in mind, how successful do you > think I could be if Rails was the first programming language I’ll > learn? Ruby is the language you would learn, rails is just the web platform. For a casual programmer who just wants to have fun and create some stuff, ruby is great to learn on. Go get yourself the Programming Ruby book from the pragmatic bookshelf, and also the book on rails they put out. They are the best out there and a great reference while you are learning. Chris ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889/3 "2007-02-17T08:49:56Z")
Rails is a web application framework written in Ruby. You can start playing with Rails and hardly write any code. But you will need to understand basic programming techniques (classes, objects, methods, variables, control structures) and Ruby syntax before going much further. I would recommend taking a look at Learn to Program by Chris P. (Pragmatic Programmers) to get started with programming and the Ruby language. Then move on to Rails. Good luck! Aaron ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889/4 "2007-02-17T15:33:33Z")
On Feb 16, 2007, at 10:52 PM, removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid wrote: > My question is, with the above project in mind, how successful do you > think I could be if Rails was the first programming language I’ll > learn? Rails would be an excellent choice for your project. The ‘Agile Web D. with Rails’ book is an excellent starter book that will get you to the next level of proficiency. It’s been mentioned that Rails will get you started without writing any code (aka scaffolding). That’s true, but it won’t be enough for production. You’ll need to override the interfaces that scaffolds provide, especially the sensitive ones like delete, create and update. I also recommend the ‘Rails Recipes’ book by Chad F. which has techniques of how to protect your application with authentication and authorization. Jose … Jose Hales-Garcia UCLA Department of Statistics removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 9:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-easy-is-rails/85889/5 "2007-02-17T09:19:57Z")
> done, and Rails sounds like it might be just the thing I need. > > My question is, with the above project in mind, how successful do you > think I could be if Rails was the first programming language I’ll > learn? The way I like to think about it is, ruby on rails is easy if you want to do something easy, and hard if you want to do something hard. As others have pointed out, if you think rails is a programming language, I don’t think you’re going to be very successful 🙂 Seriously though, the project you are proposing is non-trivial. For an experienced RoR dev, it might take a month or so. If you’re a bright person learning your first language, maybe 6 months to a year. Have you looked into popular cms web-apps like joomla etc, they may do 90% of what you want already.