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General Discussion

Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
33,990 Points

What next?

Hey guys!! I'm well on my way to completing the Ruby track and I was wondering what to do next. Naturally the next step would be to tackle Ruby on Rails but i've been looking at some of the Python courses which look really fun!! What's a girl to do :s haha Would anyone have any suggestions??

5 Answers

Caleb Kleveter
MOD
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points

My opinion is that Ruby is way better then Python :). I find the syntax is better.

Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
33,990 Points

having come from a php background I found it unnerving at first to leave out the semi colans at the end of each statement but yes you're right the syntax is pretty neat :)

i guess it depends what your goal is, if its just to complete tracks then I guess do whatever you think would be most fun.

Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
33,990 Points

My goal is to build applications that people can use like social network sites and database systems, but i want to learn as much as i can in the mean time, and have fun while doing it :)

Why not make a start on one, its nice sometimes to get stuck into a little project and reinforce what you have learnt, sometimes when I learn something then move onto something new, I start to forget what I did previously unless I have done some little projects to make it really sink in.

Nathan F.
Nathan F.
30,773 Points

Since you've already put the effort into learning Ruby, why not apply that towards Rails so you can use it to build the kinds of applications you'd like to build? Putting that Ruby skill into practice with Rails, and then flexing your Rails muscle by building some sites (like a simple social network or to-do list or what-have-you). Perhaps you could even take a look at Treehouse's new course on Ruby Gems (or is that an upcoming one?) and contribute a gem!

Once you do that, you can take a peek at Python. Once you are familiarized with Python's syntax and idioms, you can poke around Django (a web framework, like Rails) and build something with that. Since you'll be coming from a Ruby/Rails background, picking up both should go faster.

I suggest sticking to Ruby only because I myself have a weakness for becoming infatuated with newly discovered languages, or languages/frameworks/whatever I know of, but haven't tried. The result is... Well, I lose track, and wind up with a bunch of half-built side projects and only a cursory knowledge of things, rather than a deep knowledge. It's nice to have a wide breadth of knowledge...but it might be more important to have some completed projects you can show off.

I suppose it all depends on what you want out of your education here. :D

Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
33,990 Points

Cheers Nathan!! I was thinking along those lines myself but you've just re-enforced what was in my mind haha

Kenneth Love is amazing. You'll enjoy Python, going through his courses.

Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
33,990 Points

I can't wait to start!! but first Ruby on Rails >:)