Intro to Ruby on Rails

Learning Ruby on Rails -- and programming in general -- is fun! In this workshop, we'll help you get started building rails apps. We will be teaching with a mix of active programming and lecture (with more of a focus on doing).

This intro to Ruby on Rails workshop is designed for eager learners with little programming experience.

Everyone will leave with their very own running rails application to play with!

What is the format of the workshop?

In this two day course, we will cover the basics of the Ruby language and explore the key concepts behind the Rails framework.

  Friday (6-9pm): Installation Party to help you setup a development environment so you are ready to hit the ground running on Saturday. Note: This is mandatory to attend.

  Saturday (8am-5pm): All about learning and building (the fun part, hurray!). There will be a mixture of lecture, building, lightning talks and more building.

Dinner will be served on Friday night. Breakfast and lunch will be served on Saturday. 

In this hands-on workshop, we'll discuss:

• How to set up a Rails environment
• Basic Ruby syntax and vocabulary of the Web
• How to get your application online using Rails, Heroku and related tools
• A list and understanding of  Ruby Gems and Libraries
• The basic tools a RoR developer uses (source control, editor, console, local server, version control, etc.)

How is this different than an online course?

This workshop is very hands on. We focus on building an application as a group with peer support, teacher input, troubleshooting and Q&A throughout. The workshop will be equal parts of explanation and producing code.

How many students are in a typical workshop?

We will be limiting the workshop to no more than 20 students, encouraging a hands-on and intimate event.

Any prequisites?

Not really. Some programming experience will certainly help, but it is NOT REQUIRED. You DO need a computer for this class, however.

Teacher Bio

John Long

John has been involved with the Ruby on Rails community since it's inception. He's the creator of Radiant CMS, the first viable open source content management system for Ruby on Rails, and Serve, a rapid prototyping framework for Rails applications. John has freelanced for several years working with startups and small businesses of all kinds. His clients have included the Pragmatic Programmers, MemberHub.com, and The Scrum Alliance. John currently is a UX Designer at UserVoice.

Michael Pell

Michael is the head of product development and coding at a local start-up, Offline Media.  He studied computer science at Duke, and started with Rails back in '09.  He isn't a total nerd though and knows how to communicate dense technological concepts in plain human language.  We know he'll be a great interpreter between you and the computer, and we know you'll agree.

Additional Information

This event is the first in a series of workshops we will be developing. Have any ideas for future classes? What skills would you like to learn? Interested in teaching your own class? <- Click the links and let us know!

If you have any more questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to reach out:

aaron@yaraklabs.co