Tentative Plan of Action

After a long and fitful sleep, I have come up with a plan of action.  I am going to concentrate on doing Michael Hartl's Ruby on Rails tutorial when I have time to really think and concentrate.  The Code Academy tutorial was frustrating to me and did not include nearly the level of detail I wanted.
However, when I have somewhat distracted time I am going to continue to work through Code Academy's intro lessons to other languages so I have some sense of them.  First up: Python!  This way, I will be learning Ruby on Rails in a meaningful way, but also getting a wider breadth of knowledge as I go.

Based on my estimates, I am around 30 hours into learning coding so far.

Code Academy Stats
Skills: Ruby (Complete)
Make a Website (Complete)
Python: 3%
Ruby on Rails 24%

347 Points
41 Badges

Hartl's Tutorial:  Begins Tonight!

So Many Resources

I just started the Ruby on Rails Code Academy lesson and in this natural breaking point I started to look around at different resources.  I found Joshua Kemp's blog and I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse.  It seems as though he started give or take where I'm at and has become quite successful.  One thing I am finding is that there are so many different tutorials and resources out there ranging from Code Academy to books to other stuff like free code camp.  I am thinking I also need to get myself into some type of community, but that seems like a tall order in West Tennessee, quick searches turn up nothing nearby.

A an old school video game completionist, I am really drawn to contained sites that one can work through.  This is why Code Academy drew me in, I really wanted to stick with one program and work my way up.  However, after spending 25+ hours with just Code Academy, I realize I need to do some different and varied stuff.  In the Rails tutorial (which is only 5 hours mind you!) I am already encountering some of the same stuff I did with Ruby.  The site wants you to move quickly through it, but I don't feel like there is enough explanation.  I can pretty easily earn my badges, but I want knowledge, not badges.  I think I am going to check out this Ruby on Rails tutorial I mentioned in the previous entry.  Still, I do like the badges.

Ruby: Finished!

I completed the Ruby lesson a few minutes ago and while I know a good deal about terminology (method, classes, procs, variables, modules, etc) I really have no idea how I would sit down and write a program.  The encouraging and upbeat language of the tutorial seem confident that I have some new found skills, but I don't believe it at this point.  I think that they need to come up with some additional levels or practice projects to really push the person into the realm of programming.  Code Academy does not do a good job of introducing you to anything beyond their tutorials, does not address how one sets up a coding environment on their own computer, or what the process is for turning your code into a functional program.  While I appreciate the lessons and I definitely feel like I am on the cusp of being able to create, Code Academy has, to this point fallen short on prepping me to make much in Ruby, set up my own environment, or really get started outside of their comfortable shell world.

That said, I love it as an intro and as a starting point.  I think next I am going to do the Ruby on Rails lessons in tandem with Michael Hartl's Ruby on Rails tutorial book (free online!).  While I have only read Hartl's into I can say he does a much better job getting a beginner set up to code in a real environment that Code Academy at this point.  More to come!

Code Academy stats:
Skills:2
Points: 327
Badges: 39