I originally wrote this series of posts on my former blog, Usable Web Apps. As I’m retiring that blog, I’m reposting the “Novice to Ninja” series. Look for some new interviews as well!
I’ve started writing Rails applications about two years ago, and I’ve successfully launched three applications for various clients. However, because most of my clients over that time period use Microsoft technologies (.Net or ASP), I’ve never had enough consistent time in the Rails ecosystem to move from a novice-intermediate level to the “guy who really knows his stuff” level. Over the next few months, I intend to move to doing only Rails projects, and in order to get there, I need to make the leap from Rails novice to Rails ninja, as it were.
But as many of you know, mastering Rails means more than just understanding the Rails framework itself. There’s also the Ruby language itself. Testing frameworks like Test/Unit and RSpec. Markup technologies like HAML and Liquid. Popular plugins like restful_authentication and attachment_fu. Git. Mongrel and Thin and Phusion Passenger (oh my!).
So where to begin? I decided to ask those who have either “made it” to Rails ninja status, or those who are much farther along the road than me, and to share those insights with all of you.
First up is Mike Gunderloy of A Fresh Cup. I first met Mike at RailsConf 2007, and over the past two years, he’s successfully made the leap from the .Net world to Rails. Here’s what Mike had to say:
Usable Web Apps: What three skills/technologies would you recommend that novice Rails developers focus on mastering to best improve their overall value?
Mike Gunderloy:1. Learn at least one of the testing libraries well. Rspec or Test::Unit or Shoulda…just so long as you’re getting the notion of TDD/BDD down.
2. If you’re coming from something like .NET, you’ll need to learn some CSS basics, even if you’re bringing in a designer.
3. Knowing what’s actually in Rails, especially ActiveSupport and ActiveRecord, will save you a great deal of reinventing the wheel.
Usable Web Apps: What are the biggest mistakes you see novice Rails developers make when trying to strengthen their skill sets?
Mike Gunderloy:Too much “magpie programming.” It doesn’t help to swipe bits of code from tutorials or blog entries or the Rails API comments if you don’t know what they’re doing.
Thanks, Mike! I’ve sent these questions to a few other “Rails ninjas” out there, and I’ll post their insights as I receive them. If you know of a Rails ninja that I should send the questions to, leave a comment and let me know!
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