From: Phillip Gawlowski Date: 2011-04-13T00:30:38+09:00 Subject: Ruby for beginners (was: Re: Hello) On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 5:08 PM, Vincent Manis wrote: > > This does bring up an issue. I would like to see www.ruby-lang.org have a page > `Totally new to programming', with appropriate resources; this page would be > prominently linked to on the front page. > It would have a paragraph or so on what Ruby is, along with what the installers do, > along with a few resources that would help a total beginner get started. > I can visualize many interactions like this. > >  A: You're a programmer, can you tell me how I can learn programming? >  B: Try Ruby, it's a great way of getting started. >  A: What do I do? >  B: Well, go to www.ruby-lang.org, and they have all the information you need. Been there, done that, had to recommend books to go with my recommendation. > When I used to do software engineering training for a company I used to work for, one of the > more popular courses I ran was called `Programming for Non-Programmers', aimed at giving > people exactly that framework. A lot of beginners get stuck there, and can't easily move > forward without a bit of help. Considering you have educational expertise, how would you go about this? I don't think that a link to Chris Pine's Learn to Program http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ is sufficient. Considering the target audience (non-programmers with slight, if any, technical background running Windows of some sort), there's a a lot of stuff that needs to be included: - Ruby (obviously) - text editor (simple enough to be easily learned, malleable enough that it could be customized for a Beginner's Ruby package) - guide to programming* - guide to Ruby* The problem I've run into is that I can't write a programming guide worth a damn. Mostly, because I have no idea where to begin to be thorough enough that a newby can do simple stuff, and yet is able to find out what else to learn going forward. And I don't want to rip off Chris Pine's excellent work. ;) * _why's Poignant Guide doesn't cut it. It's far too eccentric for most people (not to mention that it is outdated). Neither does Programming Ruby, since it's a guide by programmers for programmers, and the free version that was donated to the community is outdated as well (by 2 generations now!). -- Phillip Gawlowski Though the folk I have met, (Ah, how soon!) they forget When I've moved on to some other place, There may be one or two, When I've played and passed through, Who'll remember my song or my face.