ruby foundations before starting build a simple RoR app?

So as not to repeat myself, a few months ago I wrote up my thoughts on learning Ruby on Rails in a different thread.

I didn't do much before starting it. I wish I had though when going through it. I would suggest going over to CodeAcademy and doing their Ruby track, and learning some of the basics of programming. It might not look like much compared to what you will be doing in the tutorial, but it will make a lot more sense later on. Although the Ruby track through Code School is a lot more relevant (it's not free). Code Academy is something you can just sign up for and start without any entry fees.

I am also going to post in a day or two how to start the tutorial properly. I am all but about done with a completed version of the tutorial going line by line the same as the tutorials in the videos. I will show the things that caused me issues, and what to do to fix them. So I would suggest to look out for it.

I jumped into RoR without any programming knowledge. I got about half way through and stopped. I was really confused to what I was doing and why it needed to be done. I backtracked a little and I'm now learning Ruby via books and videos.

If you're a visual learner then this Youtube channel has been of help to me http://www.youtube.com/user/lockersoft?feature=watch. It's from a University class so it may go pretty slow but it's free and offers a good walkthrough rails and Ruby.

After I complete my books and watch the videos I'll then go back to the build a simple RoR course which I'll have a better understanding of what Jason is doing and why.

I keep having to remind myself that it takes time to learn and I'm not going to pick it up in a week :)