From: Nunya Business <sasnso4a5w12kb8@...>
Date: 2007-09-23T07:27:25+09:00
Subject: Getting started with Ruby (noob confusion)

Hi everyone!

As the title suggests, I'm new to Ruby (and programming in general), and
am feeling a bit
overwhelmed by the complexities. (However, I must say that Ruby is one
of the few languages
I'd dare to describe as "easy to swallow".) At the moment, I'm not sure
what to do first. I've
downloaded the latest stable build, and am really anxious to make
something happen. My
momentary interest lies primarily in developing simple Windows GUI apps,
and I've found that
I'll require some external tools for said tasks. My last attempt at
coding was with the VB
Express kit (which I eventually removed, due to it's bloated feel), so
Ruby's requirement of
external software was a surprise (hey, like I said, I'm new to this, so
don't come down on me
*too* hard).

Anyhow, after realizing this, I went on a treasure hunt of sorts, for a
GUI toolkit. I've
selected foxGUIb for the job. According to the site, it requires FXRuby,
so I guess my first
question is, is FXRuby included in the current stable Ruby distro, or do
I need to download
it? I did a search, and found several "fxruby" type files on my comp
with the "gem" extension.
(BTW... what the heck are "gems? LOL) I have a bunch of other questions
as well (unrelated to
FXRuby), but I'll get into those later. Right now, I just need an
itemized list of EVERYTHING
I'll need to get going.

A few of the projects I have in mind:

A snazzy, skinable web browser with ftp capabilities built-in (among
other things)
An instant messenger
Newsreader
Mail client

As you can see, just very basic stuff.

My complaint with most coding tutorials out there, is their focus on
elaborate methods that
most regular people will never require. I don't need to build a
chemist's widget for solving
complex mathematical equations... just nifty little web apps with some
cool features.

If anybody can help me through my journey of Ruby discovery, it would be
much appreciated. : )

PS Something I've been wondering for a while; need I be proficient in
math to develop the type
of apps I have in mind? I'm just horrible with numbers. I feel like this
particular weakness
may hamper my dreams of programming.
-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.