Do you want to learn Ruby on Rails and do not know where to start? Maybe you have watched some videos on YouTube, maybe you have bought a book about Ruby on Rails. But the book was too theoretical and the video assumed you had a basic knowledge about Ruby which you don’t.

So where do you start?

The best starting point if you are completely new to Ruby on Rails is Michael Hartl’s website www.railstutorial.org. This is a complete guide that takes you from nothing to developing a basic application. You can use the book for free online. There are paid packages if you want the accompanying video’s, ebook and other resources.

I personally prefer learning by reading courses and articles online. Because reading is faster than listening and it’s easier to go back or skip something. But if you prefer video you should checkout courses on Udemy. For example the The complete Ruby on Rails developer course. This is comparable to Michaels Railstutorial but the focus is now on video.

If you are reading this sometime after 2018, make sure that the course is updated to the latest Rails version.

If you already know the basics

If you are reading this because you don’t want to go through al the basic stuff again I have good news! There are more video’s that cover just one topic or question than there are ‘complete courses’. My 3 favorite sites where I watch videos whenever I want to learn something are:

gorails.com – Chris Oliver creates new videos at an incredible pace. He covers Ruby on Rails and related concepts like using modern Javascript frameworks with Rails.

driftingruby.com –  Drifting Ruby has very practical videos that may solve your particular issue. A lot of videos are paid but the paid plan is cheaper than with gorails.com.

railscasts.com – this used to be the place to go for everyone learning Rails until Ryan Bates decided to focus on something else. The videos are still online and still useful if you want to learn Rails concepts like eager loading or Turbo Links. He is still the best narrator in my opinion.

These are not the only sites. RubyTapas.com seems to be quite popular, but somehow I never use it. It is more focused on Ruby on programming techniques than on Rails concepts.

Do you use a website that I should add? Let me know on Twitter!.