I began my web development journey in December 2014 with The Odin Project. I learned much from The Odin Project’s free Ruby on Rails curriculum as well from its amazing support group.
What did I learn specifically from Ruby on Rails?
- I learned web development fundamentals including the difference between the front end (the part the user sees) and the back end (the database part).
- I learned how to use the Model View Controller (MVC) Design Pattern.
- I grew by attending and contributing to Meetup events.
- I made clean code a habit (most of the time… some of the time : ) Rails development taught me great habits like DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). This means if I am doing something repeatedly, i.e. printing out a first name and last name, I should not put this procedure everywhere. Instead, it is more understandable if I create a single function to print the first and last name, then call this function as needed.
- Testing including Test Driven Development (TDD). In TDD the tests are written first, then code is written to pass the tests. This can lead to cleaner code because of…
- Red Green Refactor. First create tests that the code will fail (Code is Red). Then make the code pass the tests (Code is Green). Then refactor (rewrite the code in a more understandable manner) while ensuring the tests still pass (Code is still Green).
- Keep code and folders organized. This means keep external code separate from my own code. Also make sure names of functions, classes, folders, basically everything, are descriptive of their actions.
Overall I am glad I began my journey with Ruby on Rails because the framework, community, and teaching materials make learning, understanding, and building websites very beginner friendly.
bryanttunbutr 