Learning Ruby + MooTools
teej: I was in your position 4 years ago.  I had spent some time learning HTML/CSS + PHP and had thrown up a few websites here and there.  I wanted to get into real web dev, and I decided Rails would pave that road.I'm not one for books, but Ruby on Rails: Up and Running (http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596101329/) was an incredible resource for new devs.  I have since introduced two other people to Rails though that book and they loved it.  One issue: it's old.  If they haven't updated it for Rails 2+, don't go near it.  You might want to try the Rails Guide instead (http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html)From there, I picked up Ruby for Rails (http://www.manning.com/black/).  I read about 20% of this book.  It was critical for me understanding the "magic" behind Rails and the weird syntax behind Ruby.  I came from a somewhat CS background, so YMMV.After that, I left the books behind.  I just found problems and tried solving them with Ruby & Ruby on Rails.  I did a few crappy webapps, some of the Facebook engineering puzzles, some of the Project Euler questions.----- One word: PRACTICE. -----At first, stay away from doing it perfect, just get something working and iterate.  You don't need a full suite of tests, scale to 1M users, and super-clever meta-code (you dont need this ever).  Every project you do you'll get better.And when you get stuck, know where to go for help.  The people who hang out in #ruby & #rubyonrails on freenode can be really helpful.  To get the most out of this help, enter the room, state that you're new to Ruby/Rails, explicitly state your end goal (I want to see a list of customers on the screen), and include all your relevant code in a pastie.  You may have to be patient, but the people there are super smart and super helpful.---------------------------Through a combination of self taught Ruby on Rails programming and putting myself in professional situations with room for programming growth, I have been incredibly successful.  I'm positive you can too.  Pracitce lots, always be learning, don't be afraid to ask for help.  Best of luck.