How a Meetup Helped me Learn Ruby

When I failed miserably as a tech writer, I decided to get back into software development. A coworker I respected, GM, said I should check out Ruby. This comment was interesting and I wanted to learn more.

Instead of just learning “online” - I decided to attend meetups near me on Ruby instead. My previous attempt to learn Python through online materials were not that good - it never gelled with me.

The timing worked out that there was a new meetup based on the Seven Languages in Seven Weeks by Bruce Tate called n-languages.

The first language presented in n-languages was Ruby, and AF was the speaker.

This talk was more influential on me than I realized at the time. AF loved Ruby and he didn’t have the traditional background in “tech”, as in: computer science undergrad, this made him more open to teaching others, especially those that are re-entering the software industry.

AF was approachable and had a lot of empathy in answering emails to getting me started with Ruby - that helped me more than any article I could read online. Getting answers to those emails got me started again and I just kept going with Ruby and software development.

AF, if you’re reading this, thank you!