[TreyS]

"And learning to code by reading a Rails book? Don't you have to know how to code before you build even a basic Rails app? Even average coders can't easily grasp all the concepts behind building a full-fledged web app, nevermind someone who barely knows what a for loop is."

Agreed. As someone who has some coding experience (i.e. current CS student) but who is learning web dev, many parts of Rails/Django are way over my head. Rails/Django weren't designed for beginners. I've found starting with Flask which does considerably less than Rails/Django to be much more understandable. Sure I am probably often reinventing a shittier wheel but I think there is benefit in understanding what a full blown framework like Rails or Django provides before using one.

[hayksaakian]

I was in the same situation but had the opposite experience.

Rails freed me from the minutiae of the type of programs you'd write in school.

I think the biggest advantage of rails/etc. is that you DON'T need to understand every detail to get real work done.

Rails for zombies and the rubyonrails.org as well as http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book

Those resources + a genuine interest in building web apps pushed me over the edge.

[jenius]

Also agreed here. I started really getting into programming on rails, and really regret it. The only reason I made it through was because I was an intern full time and had the guidance of a bunch of really smart people available the entire day.

I'm going to write a post about this specifically soon. I feel like it's this insane craze that rails is the way to go for people that don't know a single thing about programming, and it makes me sad that 99% of these people will end up dropping it because of this misguided notion.

[Benferhat]

I blame ruby for being a great way to go for people that don't know a single thing about programming.