I am new to Ruby, i have the same issue as you are having. I have gone
through multiple sites, books. but i liked Agile web development with
Ruby the most.
Starting with this book worked very well with how I like to learn a
new technology. I used it as the 3 days introduction to rails that
take me on a tour of the different basic parts of the framework, then
I picked up a copy of “Agile Web D. with Rails” which
handled each subject with depth and was structured more like a
reference than a tutorial.
That is my style though, whether a book is good for you or not highly
depends on what you are trying to get out of it.
Hi everybody!
What do you think about this book?
Do you recommend me to buy it to start in Ruby On Rails programming?
Do you recommend it for Reference Guide?
I've a serious problem with on line references... I can't focous my attention
on my computer screen to read anything. 'Cause this, I’ve bought “PHP 4 - The
Bible”.
I agree with several of the comments here. Its a nice intro but its
also slim on content and rushes through stuff pretty fast. Think of
it as a very complete online article. So if you don’t mind paying $
for that (I don’t) then its worth it.
The other book I have is Ruby for Rails (David Black). Its pretty
good but I found it did not address some of the simplest questions
that I had. Strangely enough Up and Running often had what I needed.
The best part of the Ruby for Rails book is the Ruby coverage. Rails
for Java Developers just arrived at my house today. I’ve only read
the first chapter but it looks very promising so far.
Agile Web D. with Rails Second Edition is probably best, and
also uptodate with Rails 1.2. Beginning Series from Apress (Ruby, Ruby
on Rails, Ruby on Rails E-commerce) are very friendly to beginners.
Never buy an old book on Rails. For some (obvious?) reasons books got
obsoleted by Rails and other plugins pretty fast. Make sure you use the
Rails version and plugins matching the ones from the book while learning.
While actually developing though, the resources on the net is the best
way to update yourself. Plugins come and go, some got unmaintained etc.
The landscape is changing pretty constantly. Google Reader, along with
sites such as PlanetRubyOnRails.org|.com (and of course, as a shameless
plug, RubyInside.com) are your best friends
