# New to ruby

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [September 8, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123 "2007-09-08T05:49:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/christiano)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123/1 "2007-09-08T05:49:22Z")

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Hi,

I would like to learn ROR. Do I have to start with Ruby first and then  
go into ROR? I am not a programmer. But, I have some knowledge of C++  
but not a whole lot. Thanks.

-christiano

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**Author:** ![christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/christiano)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123/2 "2007-09-08T06:06:22Z")

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Shawn Tate wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I would like to learn ROR. Do I have to start with Ruby first and then  
> go into ROR? I am not a programmer. But, I have some knowledge of C++  
> but not a whole lot. Thanks.
> 
> -christiano

Start with Chris P.'s “Learn to Program”, then move on to David A.  
Black’s “Ruby for Rails”. It’s _possible_ to learn Rails first without  
being a programmer, but it’s not really a good idea.  
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**Author:** ![christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/christiano)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 6:12am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123/3 "2007-09-08T06:12:23Z")

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Shawn Tate wrote:

> I would like to learn ROR. Do I have to start with Ruby first and then  
> go into ROR? I am not a programmer. But, I have some knowledge of C++  
> but not a whole lot. Thanks.

Yes, Ruby is a language and Rails is a platform; learning a little Ruby  
first will go a long way towards understanding Rails.

This is what books like /Ruby for Rails/ by David Black are for. You can  
also try Ruby’s online interactive demo, at:

[http://tryruby.hobix.com/](http://tryruby.hobix.com/)

Even better if you have any experience with other programming languages,  
because you will be overjoyed to learn how Ruby flattens the hardest  
problems, that other languages get stuck on. But if you don’t that’s  
okay.

You will then see how Rails leverages each of Ruby’s many strengths in  
(usually!) just the right way to defeat the nastiest problems in web  
architecture. Rails helps keep the web’s nuts and bolts out of your way,  
so  
you can focus only on your actual web problem.

Also, as soon as possible, learn Rails’s unit test system, because it is  
beyond exemplary. Unit tests for web applications are super-hard, and  
Rails  
makes them easier than most other unit test situations.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@christiano](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/christiano)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/114123/4 "2007-09-08T17:47:44Z")

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Ed and Philip -\> thanks for your recommendations.

Chris P.'s online tutorial seems to give a very simplistic approach to  
ruby. I have also come across a few threads on this forum on the same  
topic (ruby for newbies). There are plenty of resources out there for  
people like me to learn ruby. Thanks everybody on this forum for your  
inputs.