First Post: I will learn to code

Day 21:

I can say I am not new to blogging because I have started quite a few blogs in the past but have failed to follow through, hopefully this will not end with the same fate. I am in no means a writer but hope to follow through on this blog.

The last few months have been very busy, My son was born 2 months early, My wife and I spent 70 days in the hospital with our pre-mature child. While waiting for him to grow and develop we missed many days of work and stopped all our obligations for teaching music lesson and volunteering at church. Because of this I had a lot of free time to give thought and ponder about my life. During that pondering, I decided I will be taking the plunge into coding, specifically Ruby on Rails. I have too many ideas just sitting in my head and need a way out.

My Goal:
My goal for this blog is to document my journey into coding. During my research, I found there is not a large community Ruby community in the Tampa Bay area, but there is a high demand for them in the industry. Also just like many other industries there not many minority coders; my hope will be to inspire other minorities to join me in this journey.

What inspired me?:
I was a big "Google Reader"user prior to the shut down not too long ago and still spend a lot of time following blog and news on the web. A few weeks back I read an article of how a 23 year old Manhattan based programmer approach a homeless man, Leo, and offered him $100 or the opportunity to teach him to code so he could build a career. Leo chose coding and  in a matter of only 4 weeks he built his first app prototype.

Business Insider Article - The Homeless Coder

My thought immediately went to, "If Leo can Javascript in 4 weeks while living in a city park, then I can for sure learn Ruby on Rails in the comfort of my own while working full time and raising a new baby. Nothing is holding back.

The Plan: Go Big or Stay Home
I first started Computer Science For Everyone but only got halfway before deciding Ruby would be my language. I have postponed that but highly recommend it for your basic computer info. I had previous experience in HTML and Visual Basic in high school, but that was so long ago that CSFE helped me get a great foundation.

I am now focusing on rails exclusively and after Twitter stalking Rubyist on Twitter I will be attending my first Meetup within the next few weeks. Even though I have only completed two ruby course and haven't even completed my first app I want to meet actual coders and pick their brains in person and for free. Stand by for updates on that on twitter @brianllamar

The resources I will use

One Month Rails - Great no frills course from Mattan Griffel. He definitely leaves out the fluff and gets right to the point with making your first app.

How to teach yourself to code - Great video by Mattan Griffel explaining how he taught himself to code in one month

DHH Video - David Heinemeir Hansson is credited for creating rails. This is an interview of explaining what it is.

TryRuby.org - This is the first course I actually completed. Should of only taken 15mins, but it took me 4hours. In my defense, I was doing it in the background while working on other stuff. 

Rails for Zombies - The second course I completed, created by CodeSchool

Udemy - This is a great online resource to pace yourself to learn code. There is also Learnsteet, Codecademy, and Udacity. These are all free options

I hope to complete all these courses and more by May, which would make 6 months work towards one goal. By then I might have a fully functional app or I might. I guess we will have to see.

Follow @brianllamar