What is Ruby?
Ruby programming language is a scripting language following the object-oriented programming paradigm. It was created by Yukihiro Matsumoto in the mid-90s. Being a scripting language Ruby does not directly interact with hardware. Instead, it is written on a text file and an interpreter converts it to executable code. The flow of the language is procedural in nature.
This means the code follows a logical flow from top to bottom. The aim behind the invention of Ruby was to mix the power of object-oriented programming along with a scripting language. The language is simple to understand. It is a programming language used by many developers in the IT industry. If you are looking to learn Ruby programming then we have just the list for you.
Best Ruby Programming sites:
Codecademy
If you are looking to get better at Ruby programming then one of the sites you can use is Codecademy. The site was built with an aim to upskill people. In the 21st century, you need some good skills to get a good job. Codecademy aims to provide you with an opportunity to do so. But the learning process can become boring and too procedural.
So, the site tends to make the courses more engaging and flexible so that anyone can get started. Many courses on the site can help you get to a much better level when it comes to coding. The Ruby programming course that the site offers is decent as well. Ruby is a popular language as many developers and tech companies use it.
If you want to upskill yourself in Ruby then there are multiple courses on the site. From the beginner level to intermediate level you will find different courses. Depending on where you are at when it comes to your coding journey choose the course that suits you. Also, there are free as well as paid courses on the platform. So, if you just want to see if the site is good, you can check out the free ones.
Railstutorial
The Learn Enough Foundation is a platform which offers courses and opportunities for people to better their technical skills. You can start your coding journey with them. The man behind the foundation is Michael Hartl. An expert in the technical field for years Michael has become quite prominent when it comes to being an educator. He often speaks at various technical conferences and is a frequent contributor to the coding community.
He has even received recognition for his contributions being awarded the Ruby hero Award in 2011. So, when you begin a course that has been envisioned by him you know it is going to be good. The Learn Enough Foundation currently has 10 courses. You get online books, videos, exercises etc. in each of the courses. Once you complete a course you will get a certificate of completion.
The Ruby on Rails tutorial by the foundation has been quite popular. Ruby on Rails is a popular framework that was inspired by the Django framework. This tutorial provides you with a very comprehensive introduction to web development using the framework. You will learn how to develop industry-strength web applications with Ruby on Rails. This is one of the go-to courses for Ruby so check it out.
Try Ruby
If you are a complete beginner at coding and want to pick up some Ruby programming skills then it is a good idea to start small. Big courses, though in-depth, can often appear scary which can harm the motivation of the student. But you don’t have to worry about that here. Try Ruby is one of the sites that makes learning programming easy and fun. It claims that in just 30 minutes you will get started with Ruby. The user interface of this site is very simple.
You will easily get the hang of it in a matter of minutes. It aims to help you get started with Ruby by dividing everything into small chunks. Will you become an advanced Ruby programmer by the end of 30 minutes? No. That’s not the focus here. If you have never done coding or have very little knowledge about it then this site will help you get your feet wet.
By following a series of steps the site will help you understand what you’re going to get into. As you can infer from the name ‘Try Ruby’ basically wants to help students get some idea about Ruby. After half an hour you will have some idea about Ruby and will know whether the language is something you want to deep dive into. So, we suggest starting here.
Ruby Koans
One of the things that I like about the Ruby Koans site is that it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or already know Ruby programming, this site can be quite helpful. For beginners, the site can act as a helpful guide to getting started with Ruby as well as getting better at it. For people with some Ruby knowledge, it will help in brushing up on the concepts and getting their knowledge crisper.
If you are like me you might have wondered about what the name of the site means, especially the ‘koans’ part. Is it someone’s name? Is it software? Well, Koan is not an English word. It is Japanese. It means statements or dialogs that are meant to test students. The word comes from Zen Buddhism. In this context, Koan is basically an exercise meant to test your progress.
The course is divided into multiple parts so that students can learn Ruby in a modular fashion, part by part and using the exercises they can test their progress. The site even goes into detail about the installation process as well. It is a good site if you want to get into Ruby and don’t necessarily want to follow a complex course or pay for one.
Pluralsight
Pluralsight is a site that offers online courses for people to learn and upskill themselves. The idea is to have a platform where interested parties can come and learn the skills they need to sustain themselves. The courses that you find here are created by industry experts who have in-depth knowledge of the field they are offering the course. Using the materials you gather here you can self-assess your progress and get better at the subject of your choosing.
The interface of the site looks decent and you can find all the info you need without much hassle. If you are looking to learn ruby programming then you find a couple of nice courses on this site. We recommend the Rails for Zombies course which makes it fun and easy to get better at Ruby as well as the Rails framework.
The video tutorials are quite decent and the game-like format will keep you engaged. There are some good programming exercises to keep you on your toes and judge your performance. The course is for all levels. So, even if you are a beginner you will find the course quite insightful and easy as it will guide you to a level where you become quite comfortable with coding in Ruby.
Udemy
Udemy has to be one of the sites that you should use frequently to get better at any field or subject. There are multiple courses on this site for the same topic as well. Different instructors bring in different flavors and the reviews can help you pick up courses that can provide you good value for money. Udemy is the go-to site for many companies and developers to either brush up on their knowledge or learn new skills.
If you are looking for a nice beginner-friendly course to get started with ruby programming then I would recommend the ‘Learn to code with ruby lang’ course. The course has over 30 hours of on-demand video tutorials along with 8 coding exercises. You will learn all the basics as well as some decent concepts to get better at coding in ruby.
The course has a 4.7 rating and the reviews are quite good. The price of the course is not that high and Udemy often has deals that can help save a few more bucks. So, if you are okay with using a paid course then you can check out this course.
Learn Ruby the Hard Way
Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking. When I have just mentioned a bunch of good resources to use to learn Ruby the ‘easy’ way, why am I recommending a site to learn ruby the ‘hard’ way? Well, that’s because the ‘hard’ in the course name is probably a marketing ploy. After all, the course is pretty decent.
There is a book that you will need to buy to get a complete idea of ruby but the site is good enough to give you a sort of starting point. Besides, you can try the book for free. Once you visit the site there is a link that you can use to try the book. The lessons on the site are quite short and concise. If you buy the course which is around 30 bucks then you get access to high-quality PDFs with in-depth tutorials as well as HD video tutorials.
TutorialsPoint
TutorialsPoint is the perfect site for anyone looking to get into coding. There are many tutorials on this site that are decent enough to get you started on the language you choose. They also have good tutorials on various computer science topics as well. This ruby tutorial is good for beginners or rather people who know programming but are looking to switch languages or start learning ruby.
It means that you need to have some programming knowledge to better use this tutorial. The tutorials on this site aim to get the basics strong and then you can use other resources to get better at the topic. This site is completely free. So, you get started with ruby programming now, if you want.
The Odin Project
The Odin Project is doing a noble thing by providing courses that can help anyone learn to program. Everyone does not have funds or access to good-quality computer science courses. But in today’s world if you want a good job then knowing programming can help you get it easily. The Odin Project aims to provide you with high-quality courses that you can utilize to get started with programming.
First, you have to start with the foundation course. It takes you through all the various basics that you will need to understand programming. Once you have gone through that course, you have two choices. You can either learn Full Stack JavaScript or Full Stack Ruby on Rails. If you want to learn Ruby programming then going for ruby on rails can give you an advantage over people who only know the language. That’s because you know a framework and there will be more opportunities.
Ruby-Lang.org
Well, if you want to learn Ruby then what better way to do it than learning it from the official site. This is a small Ruby tutorial that aims to help beginners get their feet wet. The tutorial is called Ruby in 20 minutes but you will need more time than that if you don’t have Ruby installed already. But don’t worry. You can find a guide for ruby installation there as well.
Ruby is a fun language. To learn Ruby the fun way you can open the interactive shell of Ruby. This tutorial lets you know how to do that in different operating systems. Once you have the shell open you can follow the tutorial. It will take you around 20 min to complete during which you will learn the various basics of the Ruby programming language. We suggest you give it a try since it’s free and probably one of the best places to start learning ruby.
Conclusion:
So, that was our list of some of the best Ruby programming sites. The reason why so many people want to learn to code is because of the multitude of opportunities that exist. Coding is not easy but if you can grind and get better at it then you can get a good job with a good salary. But why learn Ruby or Ruby on Rails? That’s because some of the biggest companies in the world use the language and its framework on their websites. Airbnb, Shopify, Hulu, Twitter, Twitch etc. use this technology.
So, if you are well versed in it you will have a bunch of opportunities. Due to its ease of use and flexibility, Ruby is very popular. So, if you are looking to switch languages or start your coding career then ruby programming is one of the perfect choices. We hope you found useful information from our list and wish you all the best. Happy learning!