RailsLearners Study Group: Come learn with our "Class"

SPECIAL MEETUP!!!

I. Come meet Michael Hartl!
Michael Hartl, author of The Ruby on Rails Tutorial (www.railstutorial.org), which we have just completed, is coming to do a Q&A with our Meetup group. This will be a feedback/wrap-up session, to celebrate the completion of our work on his tutorial.

II. Kickoff our new project:
Kickoff of our next group initiative: *The Parallel Project.* We will be planning a WebApp to build from scratch, and build it step-by-step, each individually working on the same incremental step "in parallel," together.
(see description below)...

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Rails Learners:
The Rails Study Group (L.A. Eastside: Glendale, CA)

Current Study:
***The Parallel Project***

The Concept:
Build our first WebApp as a team -- working individually, all in parallel.

As a group, we will design a WebApp which we each individually build on our local machines. Each week we will decide on an incremental step, have the week to build it on our own, share our progress, and come together to discuss how we accomplished our task. This way, we each have the hands-on experience of building each piece of a WebApp. We can ask questions of others who are building the same thing, learn from each others' methods, and discuss how we accomplished our goals.

We are assuming some basic knowledge of Ruby on Rails, MVC frameworks, and basic WebApp concepts. That being said, this project is still suited for relative beginners, and is designed specifically to teach us all how to build our own first WebApp, so that we can learn from one another as we learn how to build on our own. This will allow us to be better equipped to solve problems, both in a work environment or prototype projects in the future.

This project is designed to teach us the skills we need to succeed on our own -- whether being responsible for a work project or to develop production grade WebApps on our own.

What does it mean to build an app in parallel?
In a traditional development environment, software development is accomplished by each engineer being given a different task to complete. She/he works on their own ticket, and submits their work for review and later it is committed to central repository.

This workflow makes tremendous sense for a group of seasoned professionals. They are all experienced engineers, already capable of accomplishing each of the separate tasks on their own.

However, for those who are learning, this is sub-optimal. We do not yet have the knowledge to complete each individual task on our own. The best way to learn this is to do it ourselves. Getting our hand dirty on the code is the best way to become stronger developers, and really learn how to code.

In this spirit, we have decided to build one WebApp, as a team. However, though we build the same WebApp, we will do it in parallel, step-by-step, on our own.

At first, we will designed the project together, and come to a consensus on a project that we all want to work on. Like any professional project, we will break a large project into manageable tickets – bite sized chunks we can complete on a weekly basis on our own.

Then, each week, we will assign a group homework assignment: a ticket (the same ticket) we each have to complete by the next week, at home.

Will will each develop our own version locally.

This affords us the chance to learn to work through problems, and solve them on our own. And, since we will be working on incremental steps each week, this will give us a group of fellow developers, each working on the same task, to come together and discuss our progress and challenges. Forcing us to solve our own problems, but with similar minded group-members to help you think through your code.

Our goals:
In a work environment, you are expected to solve programming problems on your own. Learn how to install gems, practice searching for and implementing solutions, working through bugs, deciding on the best way to make the software “just work.”

In our project, you will have the same responsibility for your own project, however, you will have a friendly team, working on the same issue themselves, to come together with and discuss your challenges and how you accomplished your goal.

Industry Practices:
We will try to adhere to industry best practices. We will develop our WebApp using Agile development sprints, use a ticketing system, planning meeting, retrospectives, and even introduce testing.

RailsLearners LAB!
For those who want additional group time, we have a bi-weekly "Lab" where you can talk about your challenges, work through problems, and discuss your code.

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We meet WEEKLY, 6:30-9:00 pm.

Everyone is welcome but women and awesome people are especially encouraged to attend.

This is the **SAME Meetup** as:
• Los Angeles Women's Ruby on Rails Group:
www.meetup.com/Los-Angeles-Womens-Ruby-on-Rails-Group/ *Women and men* please all attend!
• The LA Ruby, East-Side Study Group:
http://www.meetup.com/laruby/events/221924014/

Please be kind, considerate and respectful. We are here to study together, and encourage a learning environment conducive to all learning types, experience levels, and ages.

If you are brand new to Ruby on Rails, don't feel intimidated, everyone has to start somewhere. We will help you get up to speed if you are willing to put in the time. There are a lot of great tutorials to get you up and rolling even if you've never programmed before. Our current project assumes some MVC / Rails background, but we have successfully brought people up to speed to join the group.

For Beginners: We love having beginners join us! Please attend to get a sense of our group, and we will have a set of tutorial waiting for you, to bring you up to speed to join our project. MANY of our group-members started with RailsLearners knowing nothing, and are now developing along with the team.

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Our Meetup consists of 3 associated Meetup Groups:

Rails Learners (our primary group): Working on The Parallel Project, meets weekly.

Rails Learners Lab: A bi-weekly “lab” to complement Rails Learner.
• Come when you are stuck on your weekly assignment

WebApp-Builders: A full-stack focused Meetup group, designed for more advanced WebApp developers. http://www.meetup.com/WebApp-Builders

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Organizers:

Jen Diamond hejendiamond @ gmail[masked]

Kobi Levy [masked][masked]

KangKyu Lee [masked]

Kalisa Falzone

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* Please come to learn. This is not an environment to pitch business ideas.

** Please no recruiters.