# Beginner help/direction **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [May 13, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828 "2009-05-13T02:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/michael_engel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828/1 "2009-05-13T02:54:15Z")
I just finished reading Chris P.'s “Learn to program” with ruby, and am wondering if you wonderful folks could point me in the right direction to continue my education. The book is fairly basic, and I need more exposure to ruby. I have the “pickaxe” book, but if anyone could offer any help or ideas, it would be much appreciated. P.S. I hope this isn’t off topic 😉 ---
**Author:** ![michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/michael_engel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828/2 "2009-05-13T03:39:30Z")
michael engel wrote: > I just finished reading Chris P.'s “Learn to program” with ruby, and am > wondering if you wonderful folks could point me in the right direction to > continue my education. The book is fairly basic, and I need more exposure to > ruby. I have the “pickaxe” book, but if anyone could offer any help or > ideas, it would be much appreciated. > P.S. I hope this isn’t off topic 😉 Well, as a perpetual beginner, and someone with never enough time, I fall back on just-in-time learning (and this list!). With Thomas’ fine book (3rd ed., I presume), all you need is a serious project - preferably some program you could really USE (thus supplying you with plentiful motivation). Then start facing the problems and writing code. Believe me, you’ll learn a lot, but not stuff you don’t need and won’t likely use. Also, become friends with the ruby-debug gem (but it doesn’t yet work in ruby1.9 - grrrr.) Just my small thoughts, but that’s how I work. t. – ```auto Tom C., MS MA, LMHC - Private practice Psychotherapist Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A: (360) 920-1226 << removed_email_address@domain.invalid >> (email) << TomCloyd.com >> (website) << sleightmind.wordpress.com >> (mental health weblog) ``` ---
**Author:** ![michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/michael_engel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828/3 "2009-05-13T03:40:00Z")
“The Ruby P.ming Language” by David Flanagan, Yukihiro M. is probably the best Ruby book I’ve read (and I’ve read quite a lot of them :)). It has both basic and advanced staff in it. Andriy ---
**Author:** ![michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/michael_engel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828/4 "2009-05-13T10:16:53Z")
2009/5/13 Andriy H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > “The Ruby P.ming Language” by David Flanagan, Yukihiro M. is > probably the best Ruby book I’ve read (and I’ve read quite a lot of them > :)). It has both basic and advanced staff in it. And then there’s of course David’s new book: > **[The Well-Grounded Rubyist](https://www.manning.com/books/the-well-grounded-rubyist)** > > The Well-Grounded Rubyist takes you from interested novice to proficient practitioner. It's a beautifully written tutorial that begins with the basic steps to get your first Ruby program up and running and goes on to explore sophisticated topics like... Cheers robert ---
**Author:** ![michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@michael\_engel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/michael_engel)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/beginner-help-direction/167828/5 "2009-05-14T04:51:50Z")
michael engel wrote: > I just finished reading Chris P.'s “Learn to program” with ruby, and am > wondering if you wonderful folks could point me in the right direction to > continue my education. The book is fairly basic, and I need more exposure to > ruby. I have the “pickaxe” book, but if anyone could offer any help or > ideas, it would be much appreciated. > P.S. I hope this isn’t off topic 😉 I also recommend “The Ruby P.ming Language”, it’s the best book I’ve read about Ruby, “Matz”, Yukihiro M. writes in it. In my case it was the perfect _second_ book for learning Ruby, because it answered many questions that as a beginner i would never had thought of. You could read “Programming Ruby” first, which could give you a solid base in the language, as i did, and then grab “The Ruby P.ming Language”.