 <p>You can get straight into programming with ruby.</p> <p>In terms of generic things to know I suggest you read a book, so you get one consistent message explaining all the basics.</p> <p>This is a great book to teach you programming in general and it teaches you using ruby. <a href="http://pragprog.com/titles/ltp2/learn-to-program" rel="nofollow">http://pragprog.com/titles/ltp2/learn-to-program</a></p> <p>Also have a go with <a href="http://tryruby.org" rel="nofollow">http://tryruby.org</a> - Quick ruby tutorial in your browser</p> <p>Finally check out the hackety-hack project it's designed to help people learn to program, although version 1 is only just out. <a href="http://hackety-hack.com/" rel="nofollow">http://hackety-hack.com/</a></p>