Learning Ruby and Rails

I have wanted to update my programming skill set for a while, now.  The last time I actually wrote code for a living was... ummm... 1997.  I hear some things might have changed since then.  My brother is still a project manager in IT and keeps me informed of whatever the latest hot technologies are.  A while back, he said the biggie right now is Ruby on Rails.

The name, alone, was enough to sell me on the idea.  So, I'm trying to learn it at the moment.  I sometimes have some very boring and unproductive hours in the hotel in Dayton.  I've always enjoyed putting up web-pages.  Granted, that's less of a big deal now that Facebook is around and everybody in the universe has their own web-page, but I think writing code can be fun.  Sue me.  I'm Asian.  And a dude.

There are quite a few free resources on the web to get you started.  I like Ruby, so far.  More on the side of languages that use words, like BASIC and COBOL than it is on the side of languages that primarily use symbols like PASCAL and C.  

The first thing I had to do was install Ruby on my Windows machine.  This web-site is where I did it:

http://rubyinstaller.org/

After that, I had to install Ruby Gems, which would allow me to install rails.

This is where learning stuff on the internet is a bit more challenging than in the classroom.  You really have to figure out a lot of this crap by just digging in.  In a classroom, the professor would just tell you how it is done.

The keys here are that Ruby Gems already came when Ruby was installed.

When it was installed, if you go to the Ruby Program folder under "Applications", you can run a command prompt with Ruby.

In that prompt, you enter the command, "gem install rails" to install rails.

I think I have that installed correctly.  Plus, I've worked through some online tutorials in basic Ruby commands.  It really is a fast, easy language to program with.

At that point, though, it gets increasingly harder to find information that's in my zone of not-being for a coding neophyte, and not being somebody who is a current professional web developer.  So, I bought a book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934356549/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

This is the 4th edition of Agile Web Development with Rails.  It is supposed to walk you through how to put together a basic e-commerce site.  So, I hope this gets me on the right path.

As for what I hope to do with it?  Not entirely sure at the moment.  Senior rails developers are making six figures out on the coasts.  I guess I'm hoping that I can either do some web-development as a side-business or maybe teleconsult.  We'll see.  In the mean time, it's an inexpensive diversion.  The only downside will be less time for Words with Friends.