New LearningRails.com podcast posted, what topics would be useful to you?

rubyonrails-talk
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Hi all, Michael Slater and I just posted our second episode of the "LearningRails.com" podcast intended for new programmers aspiring to learn and use Rails and for designers who need to work with Rails developers.

This episode covers what happens when a user enters a URL in their browser. We compare and contrast a little bit with static and PHP based sites, then provide a gentle introduction to Rails Controllers, Models, and Views. We define some Ruby terminology is a very simply way to present some general concepts (Class, Object, Variable, etc).

For the experienced developers out there, please realize we are trading precision in our descriptions and terminology in favor of a simplified introduction that can give more new developers and web designers a general conceptual model to start with. We intend to peel away the onion over time and refine our audience's understanding. This is not a heavy CS presentation by any stretch.

Big question is: What questions do folks encounter the most when new practitioners quiz you on Ruby and Rails? What about when you work with designers? Do you find there are topics that you wish the designer knew a little more about so your collaboration was more efficient?

We'd love any feedback so we can make this a more useful resource to all...and hopefully something that experienced developers can use to point new folks at.

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These are a good "few" ideas :slight_smile:

The challenge we are trying to tackle is to find the "obvious in front of our noses" type stuff that experienced developers tend to take for granted, but can be a real mystery to a new practitioner. Alistair Cockburn, the Crystal Agile methodology inventor, has a nice way of thinking about learning a new skill --Shu, Ha, Ri, or following, detaching, and fluency. Long story short, think of this as three levels of mastery. When you are a master, you rarely even have to think about "how" or "why" you are doing something, you just naturally do it. When you are an apprentice, or even a journeyman, that kind of information is critical.

I'll take this list back (and any other feedback...anyone else either personally have new areas they are interested in or find that they are fielding too often from new folks?) and see what we can incorporate.

Our next few topics will cover View related items (including some of the mysteries you mention--partials, forms, etc.) and peeling away what is happening in Models and how to think about your problem in terms of OO Modeling.

The plugin topics and general glimpse at other non-toy/sample projects are good ideas.

Keep listening and let us know if we get closer to the target...that feedback helps and I'm always happy to answer questions.

-chris