# An advice for Christmas' gift: book about Ruby for experienced user **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [December 10, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/an-advice-for-christmas-gift-book-about-ruby-for-experienced-user/122657 "2007-12-10T13:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Simone_M)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/an-advice-for-christmas-gift-book-about-ruby-for-experienced-user/122657/1 "2007-12-10T13:42:47Z")
I’d like to buy (for a gift) 1 or 2 books about Ruby for a non-novice user: I don’t know Ruby, so I ask you an advice… Searching on Google, I’ve found these: Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide, Second Edition [Pragmatic Bookshelf: By Developers, For Developers](http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ruby/index.html) and The Ruby way, 839 pg, 2nd edition 2006 > **[The Ruby Way - Slashdot](https://slashdot.org/story/06/11/08/1539259/the-ruby-way)** > > Tim Hunter writes "Hal Fulton's The Ruby Way, Second Edition doesn't try to be the only book a Ruby programmer needs. It tries to be a book every serious Ruby programmer needs, and it succeeds. The Ruby Way is a book about programming with Ruby, the... Could be good ? Thanks! Simon ---
**Author:** ![Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Simone_M)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/an-advice-for-christmas-gift-book-about-ruby-for-experienced-user/122657/2 "2007-12-10T14:04:34Z")
On Dec 10, 2007 6:30 AM, Simone M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I’d like to buy (for a gift) 1 or 2 books about Ruby for a non-novice > user: I don’t know Ruby, so I ask you an advice… > > Searching on Google, I’ve found these: > > Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide, Second Edition > [Pragmatic Bookshelf: By Developers, For Developers](http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ruby/index.html) Everyone has their own choice in books, both books you listed are reputable. However, the Pragmatic Programmers Guide (commonly known as ‘Pickaxe’) is the traditional book; the first edition was one of the first Ruby books out (maybe THE first). I happen to have a copy on my bookshelf at my side. Daniel Brumbaugh K. ---
**Author:** ![Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Simone_M)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/an-advice-for-christmas-gift-book-about-ruby-for-experienced-user/122657/3 "2007-12-10T15:32:27Z")
Simone M. wrote: > The Ruby way, 839 pg, 2nd edition 2006 > [The Ruby Way - Slashdot](http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/08/1539259&from=rss) > > Could be good ? Both are good books, but I’d check to see if the person has them already. Both are standard references and most “non-novice” Ruby programmers will have them. If the person is not a Rails programmer, you might want to look at “Ruby for Rails” and “Agile Web D. With Rails, 2nd Edition”. O’Reilly’s “Ruby Cookbook” and “Rails Cookbook” are also good “second Ruby books” for people who have the basics already. ---
**Author:** ![Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Simone\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Simone_M)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/an-advice-for-christmas-gift-book-about-ruby-for-experienced-user/122657/4 "2007-12-12T20:34:03Z")
On 12/10/07, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Simone M. wrote: > > > I’d like to buy (for a gift) 1 or 2 books about Ruby for a non-novice > > user: I don’t know Ruby, so I ask you an advice… > Both are good books, but I’d check to see if the person has them > already. Both are standard references and most “non-novice” Ruby > programmers will have them. If the person is not a Rails programmer, you Very valid point! Also, how long has the person been using Ruby? There’s a lot of territory between novice and expert, and there are more Ruby books in English than there used to be. – Giles B. Podcast: [http://hollywoodgrit.blogspot.com](http://hollywoodgrit.blogspot.com) Blog: [http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com](http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com) Portfolio: [http://www.gilesgoatboy.org](http://www.gilesgoatboy.org) Tumblelog: [http://giles.tumblr.com](http://giles.tumblr.com)