Switching to Ruby, and simplifying how I take notes
Today was a very productive day. I finally got my revamped personal website up and running, which has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
I also made a pretty significant decision in my Launch School journey. After spending quite a bit of time trying to make the Python track work, I decided to switch to Ruby. The reason is simple: I just wasn’t enjoying Python. For me, it made learning programming feel dry, and I found myself looking forward to study sessions less and less. Ruby, on the other hand, has been much more enjoyable to write, and I’m genuinely excited to learn with it. I plan to make a video about that decision in the near future.
Today’s study session went really well. I finished the first chapter of the Intro to Ruby book. Since I’d already worked through the early Python courses, a lot of the programming concepts carried over, so I was able to move through the material fairly quickly. Even so, it was nice to get reacquainted with Ruby’s syntax.
Another thing that made today’s session productive was simplifying my note-taking system (another topic I want to make a video about). Instead of using several modern note-taking apps with increasingly complex workflows, I decided to keep things simple with Apple Notes. As I read each chapter, I identify the key concepts and turn them into questions and answers. I then test myself using active recall before checking my answers against the textbook or the Launch School Bot. Once I’m confident I understand the concept, I convert it into a flashcard. That’s the entire system.
Topics covered
- Ruby data types
- Basic operators
- Basic data structures
- Type conversion
- The difference between returned values and output
For my next study session, I’ll finish refining my active recall questions and add them to my flashcard deck.
Happy coding!