Ruby Problems After Deep Dive

Yep. I've had to do a lot of research off-site to even understand a little bit of what is going on. All they tell you is to do this, then do that, and then you get this, but don't explain a lot of what is going on behind it.

I can't speak for after the Deep Dive, but before it, I was definitely confused. And it looks like the Deep Dive focuses more on general aspects of Ruby rather than Rails development.

What helps for me is I write down every important line of code entered in the videos and then I break it apart and make a reference cheat-sheet out of it.

Also, try watching the videos more than once. I recommend downloading them so you can watch them offline. Programming is all about repetition and muscle memory of the mind. Another great tip is to read the transcripts out loud. Saying the code really does help and when looking at code, try going through it backwards as well.

Also, check out "Learning Ruby the Hard Way" It's a free html book that walks you through Ruby.

I agree with all the comments above. I think the hardest part about learning to code is the lack of context, i.e., its hard to learn when you don't know how the concept would be applied to solve a real world problem. I guess you just keep plugging away and sooner or later you'll need the concept to do something you're working on and that's when it is really learned. At least if you've seen something previously, it will be easier to absorb when you really need it.