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Jared Armes
Courses Plus Student 6,391 PointsAny tips for learning and remembering Ruby syntax and logic?
Do any Ruby developers out there have any advice for retaining the information learned in the courses? I feel that the past couple of projects that Jason walked me through (building a bank account for example); he claims that they are "simple," but they seem so complex to me. I am the kind of person that needs to know how every little piece fits into place. Is this unwise; is it better to look at the whole picture, or one piece at a time? Because of this, I am confused by the best way to learn. I want to understand the logic, and retain the syntax; I feel that this is the key to learning how to write programs. To give an example, even when I know how every piece works, I feel like it is a load to remember when looking at the whole picture. And to be honest, it is disheartening. I want to do whatever it takes to learn; I've made this a job. I feel like I have the will, but not the mind--though, I know I have the capacity to learn. My question is, what is the best way?
2 Answers
John Steer-Fowler
Courses Plus Student 11,734 PointsHi Jared,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts like you have. In all honesty, I felt exactly what you are feeling, and sometimes I still feel it.
I found learning Ruby really overwhelming sometimes. Nothing ever seemed to be sinking in, and a lot of it went over my head. It's one of the most disheartening things, because you really want to learn it, but you feel like perhaps your not intelligent enough, or your just not a natural programmer.
Well, no matter what anyone says, learning to program gets overwhelming. The early days of learning a language seems really easy. But then we often hit an invisible barrier where things get a lot more complicated and nothing ever seems like it's sinking in.
Trust me, you get past this threshold. I think I got past this barrier in Ruby about 2 months ago when I started learning Ruby almost a year ago. I am still learning even now by the way (although it is sinking in now).
My main advice that I could give, is never go over content just the once. Always revisit things. Start the Treehouse course from scratch if you need to. Even if you find that you know everything, it will help cement it in your memory.
Ever find that you watch a movie, but the second, third and even forth time you watch the same movie you start to pick up on new things? That's no different for Ruby, in fact, that's no different to anything in the world. Practice makes perfect.
It's really nice to read your opinions. It's always pleasant to know your not the only one out there having these problems.
Take it from me, your not alone. Keep up the good work and I hope one day I will see you telling your story in these forums.
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 PointsAre you doing the Ruby Foundations course?
Jared Armes
Courses Plus Student 6,391 PointsI can't seem to find a foundations course. I am currently doing the "Learn Ruby" course, and I am on the "Objects and Classes" section. Right now I am finishing the final lesson in that section. I was originally doing the Ruby Developer course, but switched over to this one so that I could learn Ruby.
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 PointsOkay, the reason I was asking is because the Ruby Foundations course is vary hard to follow. It appears though that the course is going to be retired on the 23rd. http://teamtreehouse.com/library/ruby-foundations
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 PointsIf you ever want to do a retired course you can Google for it, this is what I do: team treehouse course_name badge_name
Jared Armes
Courses Plus Student 6,391 PointsCool, thanks for the information!