Is Ruby & Rails a Good Choice for New Programmers?

If you’re already investing in the training and are a beginner, I’d say stick with it! Learning any programming language has its value, especially since capturing the core concepts is what truly matters. While it’s important to note that Ruby on Rails is a framework built on Ruby, it’s designed to cover a lot of web development fundamentals in a digestible way. Once you get the hang of it, jumping into other languages will be smoother. Just have fun with it!

Ruby on Rails is definitely still relevant! Many well-known websites like Shopify and GitHub use it. I actually leverage it to teach students programming concepts and to help them create projects. The key is mastering programming concepts—once you do that, the specific language becomes less critical. Learning new skills is never a waste of time!

Honestly, you can start with any language you fancy, and Ruby is a solid choice! Most popular programming languages have aged at least 30 years, so don’t let that get you down. My advice would be to grasp the Ruby basics first before diving straight into Rails. If Rails doesn’t suit you, also consider Sinatra for your projects, which is another Ruby framework.

It really depends on your goals. Ruby and Rails will give you useful skills that translate well across different languages and frameworks, particularly concerning MVC concepts. However, if your main aim is landing a job, keep in mind that junior Ruby on Rails positions can be hard to come by. Languages like JavaScript and Python might offer better opportunities right now.

Ruby and Rails are still functional, but they are more niche now. Many established companies continue to use them, but there aren’t many new startups looking for Ruby on Rails developers these days. If you’re working with it and it’s paying off, that’s awesome! But if the goal is to find a job in programming, you might want to explore more in-demand languages.