Re: Totally lost in learning Ruby

Mike Stephens wrote in post #981041:
> Hilary Bailey wrote in post #981001:
>> So Mike,
>> Since a database seems to be the bulk on the creation of a my intended
>> Ed web application/software, should I consider the SQLs or just use the
>> LibreOffice Base along with its Spreadsheet.
>
> I think what the essence of your application is, is to get people to
> submit various data, and then you want to aggregate that to a) detect
> correlations and b) measure individuals/groups against all or some other
> individuals or groups.
>
> This is the bread-and-butter of corporate life and the Sofware King in
> this domain is Excel, or perhaps The Software Capo di tutti Capi.
>
> They don't use Java. They don't use C#, and they certainly don't use
> Ruby.
>
> The great thing about Excel (or OpenOffice) is that everyone knows how
> to use it. If not, they can ask the person sitting next to them.
>
> To be honest, it's not really a database problem. Obviously a database
> can play a part but you are not maintaining complex relationships and
> business rules. You are looking for patterns.
>
> I am developing multi-million international web sites. They are written
> by a team of highly trained .NET programmers. There's not a spreadsheet
> to be seen in the applications but underneath, that's where at least
> some of the data came from originally.
>
> So I guess Step 1 is to build your model in an office suite. It would be
> quite ambitious to just launch something without prototyping the model.
>
> Unfortunately I doubt it's easy to 'publish' your app either as a GUI or
> Web product. You'd need to start again. Which brings us back to
> something like Rails, an app generator like Mendix, or going on the
> Internet and getting somebody to write it for you in India.
>
> I wouldn't be on this channel if I didn't think Ruby was as easy as
> other full-strength platforms to do a proper web site. My obsession in
> life is to do the least possible in any context.
>
> I'll give you an analogy - I think you're wanting to go on holiday to
> Hawaii but assuming you first need to become a trained commercial pilot.
> Consider letting someone/something else do the delivery, leaving you to
> plan the content.

Distinguish community,
Thanks again for such comments. I already build an Excel model which 
consist of many files.I also wrote a layman methodology which includes a 
graphical representation, explaining the relationship between and among 
different contributors, the reporting system, defined the contributors, 
what kind of information can be entered, who to target, red flags as 
warning signs, and many other parameters. Over the years (20 years) I 
have been using a smaller component of this creation, but now, after 
seeing what my school district, and other districts use as a source of 
information/data management, I think that my written model surpasses 
their presentation tools.

Now it is time to role up my sleeves and get to work. I am not afraid of 
spending countless hours working on learning. Secondly, I am not trying 
to find a cute shortcut to creating a program. My great concern is where 
to start, and having started, knowing the possible steps to take 
(different tools such as Vim, HTML, SQLs) to have the understanding. As 
I mentioned, many moons gone by, I do not have the finance to pay for 
such expertise, also I am aware that due to the USA financial mess, 
seeking private grants is almost virtually impossible. For others who 
are fortunate to have the financial resources, good for them, my reality 
is a bit different.

Therefore at this point I think that I have gathered a whole lot of 
valuable information from a great community. My approach will be to 
attack my dream with the following curriculum:
        a)as described by Phillip G -Pick up the necessities of HTML, 
CSS,    and JavaScript - Learn about application security (this is very, 
very important on the internet!)- Learn about deployment options for 
Rails.
        b) as mentioned by Shern - Check out <http://htmldog.com
        c) as noted by Guecker928 - (during the learning process), 
seek-out a marketing\legal\strategic plan.
        d) As the whole community have said - take time and avoid 
shortcuts.

Finally, I am very impressed with this board. And as I follow this guide 
(2/3 year guide) the community will keep providing novices like myself 
the tools necessary to learn, build and someday add to the support of 
this OpenSource environment.

Respectfully,

Hilary


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