Python refugee seeks advice on learning ruby and RoR

Ruby
1

Hi, all,

I’m fairly handy with Python and wanted to know what books or websites
you’d recommend for learning Ruby if you plan to move on to learn RoR.
I’ve been reading the free online version of Learn Ruby the Hard Way
but it seems very basic for someone who already knows the concepts and
principles of programming from another scripting language. Thanks for
all replies.

2

I recommend two books:
The Rails 4 Way
Rails 4 in Action (ok, this is going to be released yet in 2 months, but
the previous releases were very good)

Both provide good overview of rails features and can guide you during
your first project.
Look at the table of content at both of them; any other book that covers
those topics might be good for you.

Have you looked at the official rails docs at
Getting Started with Rails — Ruby on Rails Guides ? Maybe that’s enough
for you now, why not give it a try?

3

If you really want to do it by the books (heh) I’ll recommend the three
following books:

  • “Programming Ruby 1.9 & 2.0 (4th edition): The Pragmatic
    Programmers’ Guide” by Dave T., with Chad F. and Andy H.

    • This is better known as “The PickAxe”

  • “Everyday Scripting with Ruby: for Teams, Testers, and You” by Brian
    Marick

  • “Agile Web D. with Rails 4” by Sam Ruby, Dave T. and
    David Heinemeier H.

But if you are already very familiar with Python I would, in your place,
just dive into it, read some of the documentation and start writing
small utility scripts and then move on to Rails, once you’re more
familiar with Ruby.

4

BTW there is forum for rails here, you might get better answers there:
https://www.ruby-forum.com/forum/rails

5

Thanks for the replies. I find that what I’m primarily learning right
now is syntax, but there are some key differences between Python and
Ruby that I really like, such as what seems to be a completely OOP
paradigm.