I love volunteering at RailsBridge events because of the great energy that volunteers and students bring. Keeping up the momentum between events can be difficult, so I’ve compiled this list for students who are eager to keep learning. The list is by no means exhaustive but will hopefully provide some starting points for exploring Ruby, HTML, and CSS. Don’t get discouraged if one of these doesn’t feel quite right! Try out a variety of methods and settings for learning.

Note: Resources marked with an asterisk(*) are free! I highly recommend taking advantage of these before dropping the cash on paid resources. Resources marked with double asterisks(**) are free with a San Francisco Public Library card. Sign up for your library card (an SF address is not required). If you don’t live in the Bay Area, tweet at me (@effusivelynerdy) for help figuring out what’s available in your local library system.

Video Training

Treehouse.com**

Treehouse covers a broad variety of topics both in and around web development. You’ll see courses directly related to editing a website’s content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics), programming basics in a variety of languages, and classes on related tools and background topics (command line basics, using Adobe Illustrator, creating web-friendly graphics). Courses start with a conceptual introduction and an overview of the technology’s history and upcoming trends. Some of their Rails content is a bit dated, but it’s ok for establishing some context. Once you’re literate in one programming language and a web framework, you can dabble in other languages (Python, full-stack JavaScript, PHP) before looking for more advanced resources.

Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning**

Lynda.com’s content tends to be more profession based (e.g. become a UX designer), so it can be a little overwhelming if you’re just exploring. Lynda.com has been publishing content for a long time, so you may see some really old content. Make sure to check a video’s publication date before embarking. Bonus: you can post courses that you’ve watched to your LinkedIn profile. If you’re trying to transition to a hybrid technical role or take on a new responsibilities at your current job, this is one way to signal your interest.

Udacity*

Udacity mixes video content with interactive exercises. They have some Ruby content, but there are more web development offerings in Python and JavaScript. They have a strong vocational focus, so you’ll receive a lot of marketing content related to becoming an Android developer, VR developer, etc.

GoRails

The GoRails screencasts are useful once you have an ok foundation in Rails and have specific features that you’re interested in adding to your app (e.g. voting, chat, a Markdown converter).

Upcase by thoughtbot

thoughtbot is a Rails consultancy that dedicates a lot of resources to maintaining open source projects and publishing blogs, podcasts, and videos around best practices. Try this site if you have a handle on Rails and are trying to get a job as a developer. This is a good place to learn concepts that are more relevant to production code (e.g. testing techniques).

Written Resources

Odin Project Curriculum*

The Odin Project is a free, open source, self-serve curriculum maintained by Viking Code School. If you’re text oriented, this might be a good choice for you. Their lessons also include links to helpful YouTube videos and blog posts.

Hartl’s Rails Tutorial*

If you’ve made your way through the RailsBridge curriculum and are looking to build an app with more features (e.g. logging in with a password), Hartl’s tutorial is a classic next step. You can read the book for free on his website. You’ll also find some free books on related intro topics like the command line and CSS layout through the Learn Enough to Be Dangerous group. I particularly like Learn Enough Action Cable, which teaches you how to set up a chatroom in Rails.

Launch School Books*

Launch School publishes several free books on topics on Ruby and tools that will help you navigate Rails with more confidence, (e.g. extracting patterns from text with regular expressions, installing gems with Bundler).

Meetups

Women Who Code*

Women Who Code is a global meetup group. The San Francisco andEast Bay chapters host regular study groups at local tech companies. I particularly recommend Ruby & Web Tuesdays with the SF chapter, which often includes dinner and occasional tech talks. If you’re getting bogged down in some form of self-directed learning (tutorial, video, book, etc.), come here to ask questions and get unstuck.

Fog City Ruby*

The Fog City Ruby meetup happens once a month in downtown San Francisco. The meetup includes networking over (free!) food and drinks. Talks vary in length and complexity to make sure everyone gets something out of the event.

Code Buddies*

If getting to weeknight meetups in downtown San Francisco or Oakland is difficult, you can still find folks to work with remotely. Code Buddies hosts a Slack channel and lets you join or host hangouts for working on code.