The Beginner’s Guide To Learning Ruby on Rails in 2022

If you're considering Ruby on Rails in 2022, this guide will give you everything you need to know to get started.

Before we start, I want you to know that investing your time in learning Ruby on Rails will make you a better and more productive web developer. Guaranteed.

As you probably know already, learning a programming language (or a framework in this case) is a serious time investment. But having a roadmap can save you months of research.

And that's why this guide exists. It's your roadmap to learning the Ruby on Rails framework in 2022.

But before we move on, let me take a second and tell you why you should listen to me.

Can you trust my advice?

I've been working professionally with Ruby on Rails since 2008 (when Rails was at version 1.x), building all sorts of applications for the web. From small hobby projects to Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), to APIs, to multi-million dollar apps, and everything in between.

I work as a consultant, trainer, and coach for high-growth Ruby and Ruby on Rails teams.

In other words, I'm not someone that is just getting started with Ruby on Rails, and you can rest assured I know what I'm talking about.

So you're in good hands.

Who is this for?

This guide is about the Ruby on Rails framework, not the Ruby language. I plan to write a separate article covering Ruby the language because it’s a big topic and deserves its own space.

This guide is for you if one or more of the following are true.

You are just getting started learning Ruby on Rails
You are looking to get a job as a Ruby on Rails developer
You are changing careers, and you want to learn to code
You have a passion for building applications for the web
You want to start your own business

Why learn Ruby on Rails in 2022

Up until version 7 (released on Dec 15, 2021), you could've called Ruby on Rails an old framework.

But I think there's a lot of what the new version brings to the table than meets the eye. And it's going to be a game-changer.

And even if you completely ignore the "new stuff", there's a lot going for it:

It's a mature framework with an active community
It's got a ton of pre-built libraries
There are a lot of highly-paid jobs
It's a fantastic choice for startups and small teams

Ecosystem

Taking a quick look at StackOverflow, there are about 300.000 answered questions for Rails. Plus, another 200.000 answered Ruby questions. This is important. It means you can get help quickly when you get stuck on a problem.

Another helpful thing is the number of libraries you can use in your code, and Ruby has over 10.000 of them.

Imagine how much code you don’t have to write because it has already been written for you.

It makes you a better software developer

If none of those reasons make Rails a compelling technology for you, it will teach you a few practical concepts. Here are some of them.

Also, there are a lot of best practices built into the conventions that the framework is using, which you can take to other languages or frameworks you will work with in the future.

In other words, your time investment will pay off if you decide to learn Ruby on Rails right now.

What will you learn in this guide?

I have split the guide into separate chapters, so you can quickly find what you are interested in. If you think I’ve missed an important topic or have any questions that you can’t find answers to in this guide, please send me an email.

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