From: Seth Thomas Rasmussen <sethrasmussen@...>
Date: 2006-02-09T05:03:26+09:00
Subject: Re: Start from the start - Ruby or ruby on rails

Hi James,

> I'll take the road less traveled and recommend you stick with your
> first instinct which was not to use Rails.  I know most people say
> it's so easy to learn and it is, for a web development framework.
> However, the key there is that there is more to learn.
>
> Plus, Rails sits on top of Ruby, so starting at the top means you
> might be a little fuzzy down the road about what is a Railsism and
> what is actually part of the language.  I think it's much easier to
> go in the other direction, after you have a solid foundation in the
> language, though I'm probably in the minority with this line of thought.

I hope not, as I feel the same way, and this seems very rational.
Personally, I read Pickaxe Dos before writing a single line of Ruby,
much less Rails, and I feel it was very beneficial going into Rails. I
believe it has provided for less frustration with a great many details,
and enabled me to think smarter about how to do and even extend Rails
as I keep on learning.