# \[ANN/ADV\] Ruby Best Practices now in print! **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 30, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-adv-ruby-best-practices-now-in-print/171294 "2009-06-30T05:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naething](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/e47774/32.png) [@naething](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naething)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-adv-ruby-best-practices-now-in-print/171294/1 "2009-06-30T05:26:38Z")
Hi folks, If you haven’t already heard, my book “Ruby Best Practices” is now available in print! The whole manuscript will be made freely available under a creative commons license in March 2010, but now is the time to buy a copy if you want to support my efforts as well as O’Reilly for publishing it. == Where to buy It should be showing up in stores now, as I confirmed it’s available here in New Haven, but if you want it online: Directly from the publisher: > **[Ruby Best Practices](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ruby-best-practices/9780596157487/)** > > How do you write truly elegant code with Ruby? Ruby Best Practices is for programmers who want to use Ruby as experienced Rubyists do. Written by the developer of the … - Selection from Ruby Best Practices \[Book\] Amazon (likely cheaper, but less $ goes to me that way 🙂 [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596523009](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596523009) == What is the book like? It’s probably not like any other Ruby book you’ve read. It isn’t a reference book or tutorial, but instead, more like commentary you’d expect to hear in a code review. RBP walks through a whole bunch of real open source code, and tries really hard to keep the balance tipped towards realistic examples rather than contrived ones. It isn’t a list of rules or patterns, instead, it tries to drive home the importance of context in problem solving by using a lot of case studies. It’s meant to be read by the chapter, so it won’t make for an easy skim. But if you sit down with your favorite reference book[0] on your desk, and your development environment at the ready, it should be an enjoyable read. It is a Ruby 1.9 book, but most of the techniques should work fine in Ruby 1.8.6. The book is split into 8 core topics and 3 appendices. These cover: - Test Driven Development - API Design - Dynamic Ruby (Metaprogramming, DSLs, etc) - Text Processing and File management (IO, regex, etc) - Functional Programming Techniques - Debugging / Troubleshooting - M17N / L10N (Globalization) - Project Maintenance (rake, Rubygems, rdoc, etc) - Some Ruby 1.8 ↔ 1.9 compatibility tips - Ruby’s Standard Library (Quick sample of 10 libs) - Ruby Worst Practices If you’re curious how these chapters are organized, you can look at a free copy of a pre-production version of the metaprogramming chapter: [http://cdn.oreilly.com/books/9780596523008/Mastering\_the\_Dynamic\_Toolkit.xml.pdf](http://cdn.oreilly.com/books/9780596523008/Mastering_the_Dynamic_Toolkit.xml.pdf) == Target Audience Anyone who wants to improve their craft as Ruby developers. While it may not be suitable for a raw beginner, it will be useful to anyone who has completed a small project in Ruby, and downright fun for a more seasoned Ruby hacker. == Questions? Just let me know what’s on your mind. I’d be happy to answer whatever questions folks might have about the book. -greg [0] Either the Pickaxe or “The Ruby P.ming Language” should do the trick. If you’re more of a Ruby beginner, be sure to read David Black’s “Well Grounded Rubyist” as well.