From: darren kirby <bulliver@...>
Date: 2007-06-17T00:12:22+09:00
Subject: Re: Question on Getting back in the swing of things & Time Management

quoth the Samantha:
> Hello all,
>
> It's been a substantial length of time since I've posted here, let alone
> did anything in the realms of learning Ruby.  While I was out of work, I
> was spending a serious amount of time diving into Ruby and Rails.  For the
> past couple of months, I've not touched Ruby more than a few hours total.
>
> My question is this:  Is it possible to get anywhere when you only have
> about an hour per evening, and a couple of hours on the weekends, to devote
> to learning and advancing in the language?  If so, what would you focus on?
> I'm pretty sure I remember much of what I learned over the last 6+ months,
> but I'm hoping that a "Slow but Steady" approach can work.
>

Sure it is possible. I am no professional programmer, in fact, I don't even 
use a computer in my line of work. However, I do have a pretty large interest 
in computers and programming, so I treat it like a hobby. I do basically 
exactly what you describe, ie: invest about an hour a day and more on 
weekends. 

My advice: spend your time a) reading code, and b) writing code. Simply the 
best way to learn. Books and tutorials et al are great, but I find the best 
way to learn is to be active and write code, not to passively read words on a 
page. Also: take part in the Ruby quiz each week. I have found that to be a 
fantastic resource.

> I'd love to hear your comments and feedback.
>
> Thanks,
> Samantha

-d
-- 
darren kirby :: Part of the problem since 1976 :: http://badcomputer.org
"...the number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with more expected..."
- Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, June 1972