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Show HN: Non-dev learning development. Shipping my first project: Favsi

14 points by thiele ↗ HN
Hi HN,

I'm happy to finally ship my first development project: http://favsi.com. Favsi is a site to share lists of random stuff. Things you probably wouldn't post anywhere else. Like:

• Favorite cheesy ninja movies • Favorite original NES games • Favorite songs to sing in the car

There's been lots of list-type apps cropping up lately: Bagcheck, ListGeeks, Listry, and probably others. Mini-trend?

Some Background:

By trade, I've been mostly a business guy [shudders] at startups, but have been working to change that for awhile now. I started learning Ruby a few times last year but had trouble sticking with it. It was tough to see how the stuff I was learning would turn into an actual product.

Early this year, I decided to jump straight to learning Rails. That actually really helped. The more defined structure and near-instant results of getting something running were huge for me. Building that momentum helped me finally start to understand how fun (and addictive) development could be. Rails is a gateway drug.

Favsi is not a huge technical achievement, but it's been amazing for building my confidence to make stuff and dive deeper into programming.

Thanks for all the inspiration/support/guidance HN.

Cheers!

Justin

http://favsi.com

15 comments

[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 46.9 ms ] thread
christeso
Be interested to hear why you're learning code and attempting the transition from biz guy to tech.
thiele
I'm not necessarily trying to transition from the business side to the technical side, more that I'm trying to round out my skill set. There are a few reasons for this:

1. I want to have a better understanding of the technical side in terms of requirements, limitations, resources, etc.

2. In the early development stage of a startup there is lots to do on the technical side and less to do on the business side. I think being able to contribute technically is important.

3. I've got lots of ideas for projects that I'd like to make, but it's no fun trying find somebody to help you build them.

4. It's fun to make stuff.

abbasmehdi
I used to think the same for #2 above, but then read "4 steps to the epiphany", hand your "business guy" that book and s/he will have more to knock out than dev!

Customer development (done right) ain't no joke!

instakill
Well done dude, seriously. This is great for a first rails app. Puts mine to shame.
abbasmehdi
This is sweet!! Truly impressed! Care to share what happened between the thought "I'll dive straight into Rails..." and this? I mean the hardships, the tools, the references, the whole process basically - you're as battle-tested as they come, you must chronicle your adventures.
thiele
I had high hopes for documenting the entire process. I had the blog and domain all set up, but alas, I suck at sticking with blogs :/

I'll see if I can at least work up a decent blog post to stuff as many of the details in as possible.

Cheers!

blazzar
Congratulations. In the same boat so know how it feels. Good job on pushing it out of the door.
njstartups
Congratulations; it looks great! I am trying to develop some technical skills as well. How long did it take you to learn enough to build Favsi? What were the resources you used? Would appreciate your help with this as I'm really bogged down between choosing the right websites/books and the right language, etc.
thiele
Thanks man!

The latest go-round of learning rails started in mid-February. After working through building a basic blog in the 'Beginning Rails 3' book, I started working on Favsi. I had the majority of Favsi done in a couple of months but a few small details ended up taking quite a bit of time to figure out.

I highly recommend Rails and the "Beginning Rails 3" book. I listed out a bunch of other resources I used in this list: http://favsi.com/justinthiele/thank-you-seriously

somecola
I am the biz-guy in my startup and have been learning Python during my lunch breaks. I work on building a consulting business in the evenings so I can leave my day job and work on my startup. This would free up time for learning to code. I am only responding because I find your insight into Rails interesting and will be looking into that for myself. Good luck with your education (coding) and your development project.