# Newbie; needs direction **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [April 27, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978 "2008-04-27T13:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/1 "2008-04-27T13:03:40Z")
I’m a very experienced programmer, but I’m new to ruby. I’ve studied the grammar of the language already, I found it easy, and I’m now looking for “good source code” that I can just read and learn from. I already studied ruby-dbi’s source code. I considered learning AcriveRecord, but maybe I should wait a bit with this. My question, sort of, is: “What now?” I know it’s a vague question. I’ll ask it differently: “I’ve studied the grammar. OK. And I’m a good programmer, probably. What should be my next steps in Ruby? Should I look for a ‘beautiful’ package, like Rails, and study it?” I’m somewhat at a loss. ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/2 "2008-04-27T13:19:35Z")
Albert S. wrote: > My question, sort of, is: “What now?” > > I know it’s a vague question. I’ll ask it differently: “I’ve studied the > grammar. OK. And I’m a good programmer, probably. What should be my next > steps in Ruby? Should I look for a ‘beautiful’ package, like Rails, and > study it?” > > I’m somewhat at a loss. Welcome to Ruby! Two things. Well, three. No, four: 1. Check out the Ruby Q. archives at [www.rubyquiz.com](http://www.rubyquiz.com). Lots of good code there. 2. Don’t just read Ruby, write Ruby. Studying Ruby is one thing, experiencing Ruby something entirely different. But you knew that already. 3. Hang around. This is a great community with lots of great ideas, experienced and talented programmers, and hot debates. 4. Interact. Post your code. Ask questions. Answer questions. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/3 "2008-04-27T13:21:22Z")
Albert S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: > My question, sort of, is: “What now?” > > I know it’s a vague question. I’ll ask it differently: “I’ve studied the > grammar. OK. And I’m a good programmer, probably. What should be my next > steps in Ruby? Should I look for a ‘beautiful’ package, like Rails, and > study it?” > > I’m somewhat at a loss. If you’re a good programmer, or even a bad one (presumably you’ll become better), why don’t you just program? Anything. For example, you could try to implement an _emacs_ in ruby. Allow to specify some grammar, and have it behave like a structure editor. Another example, a favorite of mine: just write an AI shell. Instead of typing unix commands, you’d tell it what you want and it would generate the unix commands needed to reach the goals you set. Or perhaps you want to become a ruby scholar? Then indeed, reading all these gems would help. – **Pascal B.** [http://www.informatimago.com/](http://www.informatimago.com/) ADVISORY: There is an extremely small but nonzero chance that, through a process known as “tunneling,” this product may spontaneously disappear from its present location and reappear at any random place in the universe, including your neighbor’s domicile. The manufacturer will not be responsible for any damages or inconveniences that may result. ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/4 "2008-04-27T14:56:03Z")
> My question, sort of, is: “What now?” I think there are many answers to that question. One answer I would like to give is to play a bit with ruby, and then make a project or a release that includes setup.rb and a gem-way to install that project. That way you will know/learn how projects are done in the ruby world, and i think it is always useful to have more people that know how to release even small projects in ruby. ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/5 "2008-04-27T14:00:02Z")
Very well put indeed Tim, justed wanted to say welcome too. I guess the best idea was to ask the right question at the right place, good luck with this marvelous language. Robert ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/6 "2008-04-27T16:02:55Z")
Again, Welcome to Ruby!!! Like you, I too am a Ruby N. so I hope my take here helps. First, I agree. Write some code to get a feel of the language. As they say, programming is not a spectator sport. Start something small, anything that interests you. Browse Ruby Q. for some interesting problems and try and work them (Honestly, I need to do that :D) Having said that, I think you already have a good start by looking at some of the existing code bases. I think you need to find a balance between reading and writing. Reading will help you pick up a nuance (or a trick) in the language that most books will not cover, writing will help you instill it. Another approach is pick up a book like Practical Ruby Projects [ [http://tinyurl.com/3zrqbr](http://tinyurl.com/3zrqbr)], or something like Project Euler [ [http://projecteuler.net/](http://projecteuler.net/)]. I personally find it hard to make up problems unless they have a personal motive, so such books and sites help. Another one is 99 Lisp problems (Just google it). One way to try and understand Ruby well is to write unit tests. Take a class, say String, and write unit tests for all of its methods! Its painstaking, but its a lot of fun, and you will get to know Ruby intimately. Sorry if I confused you even more than you were, but I do a bit of all of the above. Its just what I am in the mood for. Spend an hour reading Rails code coz I cant seem to figure out what its doing, then write some Ruby code for a module. Getting bored, jump on to a problem I am trying to solve on Eulers, then realize I dont understand how a particular method in Enumberable works, so write some unit tests. Hope this helps. Happy Hacking. Raju ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/7 "2008-04-27T16:21:09Z")
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Albert S. wrote: > My question, sort of, is: “What now?” Hi Albert, on top of the other valid suggestions, and assuming you enjoy small mathematical problems, you could try to solve as many problems in Ruby as you can at [http://projecteuler.net/](http://projecteuler.net/). That’ll get you started. After that, go ahead and start writing real programs and libraries. Good luck, Antonio * * * [http://antoniocangiano.com](http://antoniocangiano.com) - Zen and the Art of Programming [http://stacktrace.it](http://stacktrace.it) - Aperiodico di resistenza informatica [http://math-blog.com](http://math-blog.com) - Math Blog: Mathematics is wonderful! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.8 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - [http://enigmail.mozdev.org](http://enigmail.mozdev.org) iEYEARECAAYFAkgUi2gACgkQqCqsu0qUj9SgRwCdHS9mPjGZG4gd5GTovWHXFvVn 9KsAn32HP8uwK4qSZjiqO+Sf6Y2OwlWN =Os+W -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/8 "2008-04-27T18:29:44Z")
Thanks all! I appreciate all your replies. (and am surprised at this warm welcome 🙂 > Don’t just read Ruby, write Ruby. > […] > why don’t you just program? Anything. Yes, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll write a small CGI game. I’ll google for “paper and pencil games” and pick something interesting… > implement an _emacs_ in ruby. […] > write an AI shell […] (Ah, that won’t work. I want people to use my creation (ego, you know ;-), so an application for the web is preferable.) > Check out the Ruby Q. archives at […] Interesting! > I personally find it hard to make up problems > unless they have a personal motive That’s very correct, Raju. Yes, I do have needs some Ruby scripts can solve. > Interact. Post your code. Ask questions. Answer questions. > […] > not only asking but also answering questions. (I’m already doing that …a little bit.) > […] then make a project or a release that […] I’d love to use [rubyforge.org](http://rubyforge.org). > something like Project Euler [[http://projecteuler.net/](http://projecteuler.net/)]. That sounded frightening at first, but I see there are certainly things there I can tackle, and enjoy. People, thanks for the motivation injection, I needed it! ---
**Author:** ![alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@alby](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/alby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newbie-needs-direction/135978/9 "2008-04-27T16:59:35Z")
Hi – On Sun, 27 Apr 2008, Albert S. wrote: > I’m a very experienced programmer, but I’m new to ruby. Welcome! First lesson: you’re not a newbie; you’re a nuby! 🙂 > I know it’s a vague question. I’ll ask it differently: “I’ve studied the > grammar. OK. And I’m a good programmer, probably. What should be my next > steps in Ruby? Should I look for a ‘beautiful’ package, like Rails, and > study it?” > > I’m somewhat at a loss. I want to second Tim’s point about not only asking but also answering questions. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about Ruby by answering questions, specifically questions I don’t know the answer to but feel I should and therefore dig around for. Obviously you need to bootstrap yourself into the language before you’ll be comfortable doing that, but definitely keep an eye toward it as you go. David