# I need help learning Ruby; completely lost! **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [June 18, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485 "2009-06-18T02:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/1 "2009-06-18T02:38:51Z")
I need help. I need to learn some basics of programming, and was turned on to Ruby by a friend. So I bought a book about it, installed Ruby and Vim, sat down and made a tiny little Ruby program that should print out “Hello, Matz!” But, it doesn’t. I saved it as a .rb file, double clicked it hoping to see my very first program in any language EVER come to life, and… A command prompt-like window opened for a split second, closed, and nothing happened. Where oh where did I go wrong? Do I need this “Rake” program to use .rb files? Is it a problem with Vim? Please help, I’m so confused I don’t know what to do! ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/2 "2009-06-18T02:59:54Z")
On Jun 18, 2009, at 2:38 AM, Kaleb M. wrote: > I need help. I need to learn some basics of programming, and was > turned > on to Ruby by a friend. So I bought a book about it, installed Ruby > and > Vim, sat down and made a tiny little Ruby program that should print > out > “Hello, Matz!” > > But, it doesn’t. It does ;). > I saved it as a .rb file, double clicked it hoping to see my very > first > program in any language EVER come to life, and… A command prompt- > like > window opened for a split second, closed, and nothing happened. Thats no error in your program - thats how the windows command prompt behaves: it closes right after the program finishes. As just printing one line is really quick, you only see a glimpse of it. So, you have multiple options. Either you open the command prompt by hand (Start -\> Execute -\> “cmd”), navigate to the folder where your program is and type: ruby programname.rb Another option is to add “gets” at the end of your program, like this: puts “Hello, Matz!” gets This makes the program wait for input. It will close once you press Enter. > Where oh where did I go wrong? Do I need this “Rake” program to > use .rb > files? Is it a problem with Vim? Please help, I’m so confused I don’t > know what to do! I hope I cleared the confusion. Welcome to the list! Regards, Florian – Florian G. smtp: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid jabber: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid gpg: 533148E2 ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/3 "2009-06-18T04:06:27Z")
Thanks Mr(s?). Gilcher! Adding “gets” to the end does the trick! I suppose since my initial problems have been rectified, I’ll use this thread for any future problems. Saves energy, and cuts down on spam! Thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/4 "2009-06-18T10:54:52Z")
Kaleb M. wrote: > Thanks Mr(s?). Gilcher! Adding “gets” to the end does the trick! > > I suppose since my initial problems have been rectified, I’ll use this > thread for any future problems. Saves energy, and cuts down on spam! > > Thanks again! If you’re starting off dabbling, you might prefer to use IRB. You can see everything that’s going on then. ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/5 "2009-06-18T11:35:37Z")
Kaleb M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: > Where oh where did I go wrong? Do I need this “Rake” program to use .rb > files? Is it a problem with Vim? Probably. 😉 I use emacs. > Please help, I’m so confused I don’t > know what to do! Launch irb from a terminal: [pjb@host :0.0 ~]$ irb Pascal, Welcome to the IRB! irb(main):001:0\> printf “Hello Matzacrer!\n” Hello Matzacrer! =\> nil irb(main):002:0\> def f(x) irb(main):003:1\> if (x==1) irb(main):004:2\> 1 irb(main):005:2\> else irb(main):006:2\* x\*f(x-1) irb(main):007:2\> end irb(main):008:1\> end =\> nil irb(main):009:0\> f(15) =\> 1307674368000 irb(main):010:0\> quit [pjb@host :0.0 ~]$ It’s easier to learn the language when you can try out expressions interactively. You may edit them in your editor and copy-and-paste to the irb window, or if you use emacs, you can have the editor send the expression you typed in the source file to the irb process. Perhaps vim can do it too. ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/6 "2009-06-18T15:28:13Z")
On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 7:36 AM, Kaleb M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I suppose since my initial problems have been rectified, I’ll use this > thread for any future problems. Saves energy, and cuts down on spam! Please don’t do that - it’s just confusing. Post one thread per topic, and keep the subject line relevant to that specific problem; that way, you’re both more likely to get answers, and other people who have the same issues will know to read the thread. martin ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/7 "2009-06-18T15:37:39Z")
Martin DeMello wrote: > On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 7:36 AM, Kaleb M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > I suppose since my initial problems have been rectified, I’ll use this > > thread for any future problems. Saves energy, and cuts down on spam! > > Please don’t do that - it’s just confusing. Post one thread per topic, > and keep the subject line relevant to that specific problem; that way, > you’re both more likely to get answers, and other people who have the > same issues will know to read the thread. And Google first! ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/8 "2009-06-18T15:01:25Z")
Mike S. wrote: > If you’re starting off dabbling, you might prefer to use IRB. You can > see everything that’s going on then. If you used the One Click Installer, it came with Scite. Just type in a program and tap F5. ---
**Author:** ![kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@kalebmcc](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/kalebmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/i-need-help-learning-ruby-completely-lost/170485/9 "2009-06-18T17:16:10Z")
I like using netbeans. [http://www.netbeans.org/](http://www.netbeans.org/) It is made by Sun and has a lot of cool built in stuff for ruby. It has a window for the output so you can see the results easily. It is free.