# Tips for Ruby Sprint **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/tips-for-ruby-sprint/152794 "2008-11-07T14:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Edgardo_H)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/tips-for-ruby-sprint/152794/1 "2008-11-07T14:41:06Z")
Hi guys, In a couple of weeks I’ll be leading a course on Ruby in my company. On the last two sessions (about four hours), I’d like to conduct a brief coding sprint so the students can practice what they learned writing a useful tool. Do you have any experience on this kind of activity? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Ed ---
**Author:** ![Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Edgardo_H)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/tips-for-ruby-sprint/152794/2 "2008-11-07T15:25:08Z")
On Nov 7, 2008, at 7:38 AM, Edgardo H. wrote: > In a couple of weeks I’ll be leading a course on Ruby in my company. > On the last two sessions (about four hours), I’d like to conduct a > brief coding sprint so the students can practice what they learned > writing a useful tool. Do you have any experience on this kind of > activity? Do you have any suggestions? I don’t have a lot of experience, but I’ve been involved with a couple of similar projects. I’ll give you the one biggest tip I’ve learned about such tasks. Pick a very easy project. I usually want to do the hardest thing that could possibly be squeezed into the available time. I’ve come to realize that’s a mistake for a lot of reasons: - What I assume can be accomplished in X time is not what the team can actually accomplish given X time - Being faced with an overwhelming task is demoralizing - It’s easy to show off and try exciting new things when working on easier tasks - Success is addictive and you want to lead them to that Given that, I recommend picking something surprisingly easy. I mean it, if you are thinking, “This is just too easy and we will surely finish it in half the time we have,” it’s the perfect idea. That goes against a lot of my instincts, so it’s always a hard choice for me to make. I promise it’s worth it though. Good luck with your training! James Edward G. II ---
**Author:** ![Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Edgardo_H)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/tips-for-ruby-sprint/152794/3 "2008-11-08T05:44:31Z")
im new to ruby and i don’t know what to do and where to post questions, can ruby be used to create desktop and database applications? what database can ruby access just in case. Thank you very much! your reply will be highly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Edgardo\_H](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Edgardo_H)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/tips-for-ruby-sprint/152794/4 "2008-11-09T00:40:19Z")
On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 3:19 PM, James G. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On Nov 7, 2008, at 7:38 AM, Edgardo H. wrote: > Given that, I recommend picking something surprisingly easy. I mean it, if > you are thinking, “This is just too easy and we will surely finish it in > half the time we have,” it’s the perfect idea. That goes against a lot of > my instincts, so it’s always a hard choice for me to make. I promise it’s > worth it though. > Hmm I was about to post a pointer to Ruby Q., but you made me think > twice. Do you mean so easy that no Ruby Q. problem would fit, or do > you think some of the easier RQs would qualify? ## Cheers Robert C’est véritablement utile puisque c’est joli. Antoine de Saint Exupéry