How Easy is it to Learn Ruby on Rails?

How easy is it to learn Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails is challenging to learn if you don’t already know related languages like JavaScript.

I thought it was nothing like JavaScript.

JavaScript is an object oriented programming language. Then again, Ruby is a little like PHP in its design.

This is sounding like the talk about I don’t know what this tastes like, oh, everything tastes like chicken argument.

Ruby on Rails is a powerful language that is very terse, meaning you don’t need a lot of verbiage to issue a command. And it is more efficient than other languages because it has a set framework so embedded in the language you can’t have one without the other.

Well, almost on one programs in Ruby without the Rails framework. Maybe Rack.

Rack is a Ruby on Rails wrapper, handling transactions and interfaces for you so you don’t have to add to the Ruby code module. But it does literally add another layer of complexity.

This is starting to sound complicated.

It is, in many regards. That’s why it takes months of dedicated study for most people to get good at Ruby, whereas you can learn HTML in a long weekend.

With HTML5 code modules, the Canvas element and CSS, it takes more than a weekend. Maybe a week or two of hard study.

Ruby on Rails takes months of several hour a day bootcamps to learn if you are already familiar with object oriented programming and similar languages. If you don’t know those things, it could be a year or two before you’re market ready.

What is market ready?

It takes a year or two of dedicated study to be ready to walk in and say, “I can write your web app in Ruby on Rails.” And say it knowing you won’t run their project off the rails.

What is the pay off for studying as long as it takes to master Java and PHP combined?

The possibility of a job in Silicon Valley or impressing someone by saying you know the same.

At least you’ve already learned that much.