From: Nate Imaqaguy <breakingsoftware@...>
Date: 2006-08-04T03:05:41+09:00
Subject: I’m having a hard time learning ruby.


For starters, just do you know where I’m coming from: I have little to 
no programming experience, except for some C and VB classes I took 6 
years ago, which I did fine in.

My biggest hurdle getting started with ruby is finding which 
methods/classes/files to call upon for whatever the heck I’m trying to 
accomplish.

I’m use to being able to perform a search, like in MSDN Library, using 
key words of something I’m trying to perform.  Then research results 
from there, and get pointed in the right direction (with explanations on 
what the feature does, and examples, etc).

The editors also helped with showing the available methods, as I wrote 
the code.

So, with ruby, I’m using the SciTE editor (on WinXP), which doesn’t give 
method options as you go.  Yeah, I know they are kinda like training 
wheels, but they help when you’re starting out.

And I can’t really find any close equivalent to using something like an 
MSDN Library.  The best thing someone has pointed me to so far is 
http://www.ruby-doc.org/.  Which is cool and all, but it’s not really 
“searchable”—you kind of have to know what file/class/method to look up 
in the first place.  And even if I find what I think I’m looking for, 
the documentation is confusing to me.  Sometimes there isn’t the 
slightest word as to what something does.

Someone told me about “.methods”, but that only works if you’re in an 
irb session, which I find painful to use because I have to type all my 
code in, line by line.  I can’t even figure out how to paste each line 
of the code I already have.  Inevitably I fat finger something and get 
mad.

So, you can kinda see a n00bs frustration….

I must be missing something big.  Any tips (other than “try not to suck 
so much”)?

= )

-- 
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