# A guide to the best beginning Rails resources

DevFeed: [A guide to the best beginning Rails resources](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/a-guide-to-the-best-beginning-rails-resources-26265.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.justinweiss.com/articles/a-guide-to-the-best-beginning-rails-resources/>)

Author: Justin Weiss

Published: 2015-06-16T06:19:09Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Justin Weiss](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/justin-weiss.md>)

Topics: [Rails](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/rails.md>), [Ruby](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ruby.md>), [Tutorial](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tutorial.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>)

Tags: [beginner](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/beginner.md>), [books](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/books.md>), [guide](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/guide.md>), [learning](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/learning.md>), [rails](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rails.md>), [ruby](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ruby.md>), [tutorial](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tutorial.md>)

## AI overview

A guide for beginners choosing resources to learn Ruby and Rails. It recommends starting with programming fundamentals, then progressing through introductory guides, books, tutorials, and Rails documentation, with advice on debugging, feature development, and testing.

## Source excerpt

There are a ton of books, videos, podcasts, and courses for learning Rails. There's no way you'd have time to go through them all! So what's the best way for an absolute beginner to learn Ruby and Rails? Which resources should you start with, and when? Books and websites If you're totally new to programming, the best place to start is Learn to Program, by Chris Pine. It's an intro to the core programming ideas you'll need to know. If you're planning to learn Ruby and Rails, it's especially great, because it uses Ruby for all of the examples. After that, Daniel Kehoe's Learn Ruby on Rails is a gentle introduction to Rails. It teaches you a small part of Rails that will prepare you to take on the harder resources. If you already know a few other languages or frameworks, check out the free Getting Started with Rails guide. It's a good, short intro to Rails, that will teach you Rails' concepts and core ideas. Once you know the basics, there are two bigger books that will fill out your Rails knowledge. Agile Web Development with Rails is my favorite general Rails book. It does a good job of teaching first by example, and then by reference. We use it at work to teach devs without Rails experience, and like most of the rest of the Pragmatic Bookshelf books, it's very good. The Ruby on Rails Tutorial is the other big Rails resource. It walks you through most of what you need to know to build a fully functional example app. I know a lot of great Rails developers who got started with the Rails Tutorial. And the web version is free, so you can see if it's your style before you commit to it. If you put in the effort, you'll get a lot out of it. Once you've gone through one or two of these books, it's pretty normal to feel confused and frustrated. Especially when you try to put everything together and build your own apps. My book, Practicing Rails, will help you solve the most painful problems you'll run into as you start your programming career. In Practicing Rails, you'll lear