Don't start with rails, start with ruby.
Doing otherwise is like trying to learn PHP by looking at the Drupal codebase.
Doing otherwise is like trying to learn PHP by looking at the Drupal codebase.
I don't mean to be saying that I'm doing it right, or that mine was a good way to learn programming. Just mean to be giving a data point about the relative approachability of PHP and RoR for actually making stuff as a beginner.
Eventually, I heard about Sinatra, and decided to try it out. It's a great way to learn about web apps. You'll learn the HTTP verbs if you haven't already, and you'll understand the routing process.
When you jump into Rails, you'll already understand Controllers and Routers, since Sinatra is basically the router and controller of Rails combined. You'll probably learn about views too.
Basically, learn sinatra, then go to Rails.