Ruby is the language, Rails is the framework, so the Ruby language would be a good place to start.
I know the basics of Ruby, but before I delve deeper into it and start coding like crazy, there's something else: there's no point in learning the most awesome language in the world and use it to write crappy code. So, before I write any Ruby, I have to make sure I do it right. Therefore, the first step of my journey will be Test Driven Development.
I'm starting to read the classic Test-Driven Development By Example by Kent Beck, and doing my coding using Ruby and test-unit. I know rspec is the big thing in unit testing nowadays, but the goal now is to learn TDD itself and not worry about the framework. Test-unit will do for now, as it's simple, intuitive and didactic.
My advice, if you want some. Don´t go with rspec. I regret myself for doing it. Keep up with test unit and you´ll be ok!
ReplyDeleteReally? Why didn't you like it? A lot of job postings list rspec as a technical requirement, and the TW guy also said respec is better than test-unit. The only thing I know is that DHH himself doesn't like it... =)
DeleteI think rspec adds unnecessary complexity to the project.
ReplyDeleteIt claims it is more readable, but hey, we are programmers! I think test-unit is more to the point.
I had some problems with rails upgrades due to rspec incompatibilities.