Why the lucky stiff vanished off the face of the earth by the way… Grrr…
I’ve been struggling lately with that book of mine. While it is great reading, I feel like I’m getting a bit stuck. I want to move on to practical applications of Ruby. I thought Shoes might be my answer (I [allegedly] can develop desktop applications with Ruby!) Nope. _Why took that all with him when he vanished. (Along with Hackety Hack! Which I LOVED and which used Shoes, too!) Ughhh. (Note: I have since discovered after posting this that many people are still working on his projects, and many are available via github.) There are ways to use Ruby “practically” (or what connotates practically in my head anyways) via various GUIs, but the fact is that Ruby’s most popular and practical application is Ruby on Rails– via the web. That’s just how it is.I’m not mad about it. I just need a new course of action.
So, as of last night, I’ve started reading Ruby tutorials all over the web that prepare one for use of RoR. I now know the most important features of Ruby that help one with Rails implementations. Of course, these are all things I learned previously via my Ruby book, but it’s nice to know which items I will use often and which I can discard as “unimportant” temporarily. I foresee my difficulty with Rails being the structure itself, particularly the MVC backbone. I don’t have a lot of experience with the web, or with programming even. I have limited experience with PHP, CSS, and HTML. But I’m ready to fuse my skills together and see what happens. I’m lucky to have help just a few feet away, too. But I try not to bug him too much. 
I have not yet created my first Rails application. I’ll keep you all posted. I can tell you that my first idea for a “project” is as ridiculous as it is cute. I am truly a female. Let’s see how this goes though. Honestly, I’m confident this escapade will be interesting. At very least, it will be worth giggling over. 
P.S. – Thank you to Alan for explaining some of the more complex features and implementations of OO to me over coffee and toast. I love you.
Every one of _why’s projects has been hosted by other Ruby developers. Also some of his sites have been taken over by those willing to continue his legacy. _Why was an inspiration I feel like I’ve lost one of my heroes.
Anyway work on Shoes continues at http://github.com/shoes/shoes and you can find the latest builds, documentation etc at http://shoes.heroku.com/.
Thanks! I realized this shortly after I posted this. I have had some problems with shoes and hacketyhack on my linux platform.. I continue to try to get it to work successfully. I am so glad people are picking up his pieces though.