# Curriculum for Teaching Ruby to C++ Professionals **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 9:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067 "2006-02-27T09:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/1 "2006-02-27T09:13:21Z")
Hi Rubyists, I’m a game programmer by profession. I’m setting up a little “Learn Ruby” course for the rest of the programmers at work. Ruby may be useful for internal tools for us, but it’s not embeddable because of the GPL. That’s not really important though, because I’ve _mostly_ pitched Ruby as “just being fun” for awhile now, and figure it’s finally time to share. So, I’m seeking advice on how to approach my presentation. ``` Duration: 90 minutes max Audience: bright C/C++ programmers, many with Python experience Goal: Teach the language rapidly, and Bedazzle ``` Please chime in with your thoughts. Thanks, Steve ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/2 "2006-02-27T09:22:28Z")
Stephen W. wrote: > ``` > Duration: 90 minutes max > Audience: bright C/C++ programmers, many with Python experience > Goal: Teach the language rapidly, and Bedazzle > > ``` For me as a newbie to the language - the thing that really got to me was why’s poignant guide - the explanation of blocks, dwemthys array (for meta-programming) where both brilliant. I found just working on some of teh ruby quiz challenges to be great fun and a good way to learn how the language works Kev ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/3 "2006-02-27T09:40:40Z")
On Mon, 2006-02-27 at 17:11 +0900, Stephen W. wrote: > Ruby may be useful for internal tools for us, but it’s not embeddable because of > the GPL. [http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/LICENSE.txt](http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/LICENSE.txt) Ruby is dual licensed. There are various people who embed ruby in their application and licnese their code as license they choose. "You can redistribute it and/or modify it under either the terms of the "GPL (see COPYING.txt file), or the conditions below The statement above means Ruby is dual licensed. You can have ruby licensed as GPL, or use the following terms excluding any stated rules which are contained within the GPL. "1. You may make and give away verbatim copies of the source form of the " software without restriction, provided that you duplicate all of the " original copyright notices and associated disclaimers. The statement above means you can give ruby source away freely provided you don’t edit out any copyright. "2. You may modify your copy of the software in any way, provided that " you do at least ONE of the following: " " a) place your modifications in the Public Domain or otherwise " make them Freely Available, such as by posting said " modifications to Usenet or an equivalent medium, or by allowing " the author to include your modifications in the software. " " b) use the modified software only within your corporation or " organization. " " c) rename any non-standard executables so the names do not conflict " with standard executables, which must also be provided. " " d) make other distribution arrangements with the author. You may modify ruby. You MUST do one of the following: (a)release sources to the general public, (b)use your modified version internally, or (c)rename executables so you don’t have to give out your changes, (d)make other agreements for distrubution arrangements with author. "3. You may distribute the software in object code or executable " form, provided that you do at least ONE of the following: " " a) distribute the executables and library files of the software, " together with instructions (in the manual page or equivalent) " on where to get the original distribution. " " b) accompany the distribution with the machine-readable source of " the software. " " c) give non-standard executables non-standard names, with " instructions on where to get the original software distribution. " " d) make other distribution arrangements with the author. you may distribute ruby, or your modified ruby. You MUST do one of the following: (a)Distribute your copy with a link to ruby-lang, (b)include the source to ruby, or (c or d), same as above attached with a link to [http://www.ruby-lang.org](http://www.ruby-lang.org) "4. You may modify and include the part of the software into any other " software (possibly commercial). But some files in the distribution " are not written by the author, so that they are not under this terms. " " They are gc.c(partly), utils.c(partly), regex.[ch], st.[ch] and some " files under the ./missing directory. See each file for the copying " condition. Some are not licensed under dual, please refer to the files themselves. " 5. The scripts and library files supplied as input to or produced as " output from the software do not automatically fall under the " copyright of the software, but belong to whomever generated them, " and may be sold commercially, and may be aggregated with this " software. The statement above means you can license your scripts under your license of choice. The ruby runtime does not infect your license. "6. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR " IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED " WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR " PURPOSE. You can’t sue matz, the company who funds ruby development, nor any other person contributing to the ruby project. Okay, license explained. Any questions? * * * Tsume ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/4 "2006-02-27T09:58:54Z")
Stephen W.: > So, I’m seeking advice on how to approach my presentation. > > ``` > Duration: 90 minutes max > Audience: bright C/C++ programmers, many with Python experience > Goal: Teach the language rapidly, and Bedazzle > > ``` If they can have laptops, and be networked (802.11?) you can use DRb to great effect. Remember Why’s presentation at FOSCON last year? [Trudy sings, too | Scott Laird | Flickr](http://flickr.com/photos/scottlaird/31366765/) (note the screen in the background - I heard the audience controlled the colour of the rectangles there.) You can do things like write classes on the fly and have the others use them. You can have their code affect the big screen. As far as actual content is concerned… let me mention Matz’ Ruby U. Guide, which I don’t hear about too often. It covers Ruby well, and is brief. [http://www.ruby-doc.org/docs/UsersGuide/rg/](http://www.ruby-doc.org/docs/UsersGuide/rg/) Then, there are a few Rubyists who have done presentations and blog posts on coming to Ruby from Java. They provide key points on Ruby idiom you may miss as a Java (or C++) programmer. Jim W.'s 10 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know About Ruby [http://onestepback.org/articles/10things/](http://onestepback.org/articles/10things/) Francis H.'s blog: Coming to Ruby from Java [http://fhwang.net/blog/40.html](http://fhwang.net/blog/40.html) Cheers, Dave ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/5 "2006-02-27T14:53:43Z")
On Mon, Feb 27, 2006 at 05:11:29PM +0900, Stephen W. wrote: } Hi Rubyists, } } I’m a game programmer by profession. I’m setting up a little “Learn } Ruby” course for the rest of the programmers at work. Ruby may be } useful for internal tools for us, but it’s not embeddable because of } the GPL. That’s not really important though, because I’ve _mostly_ } pitched Ruby as “just being fun” for awhile now, and figure it’s } finally time to share. } } So, I’m seeking advice on how to approach my presentation. } } Duration: 90 minutes max } Audience: bright C/C++ programmers, many with Python experience } Goal: Teach the language rapidly, and Bedazzle } } Please chime in with your thoughts. A lot depends on how deeply these people know C++. If they understand not only how to use templates but also how to develop templates, then they already understand duck typing. That is probably the deepest difference they will have to get used to (that and the fact that there is no compiler to perform static analysis and catch type errors). They also need to understand how context and scope work. I mean a couple of things by that. First off, everything not explicitly in a class or module definition is considered to be in the scope of the Object class definition. Second, there is no distinction between interface and implementation, which means that directives (i.e. code execution, such as attr\_reader) can occur within a class/module definition. This is a HUGE concept for a C/C++ person. Then there’s the whole hidden concept that the reason class names start with capital letters is that they are constants (or act enough like them as makes no difference). A class is a first-class object (which is also true in C++ with RTTI, but only sort of), and a variable can reference it, e.g.: class Card #… end class BlackCard \< Card #… end class RedCard \< Card #… end Cards = { :spades =\> BlackCard, :hearts =\> RedCard, :diamonds =\> RedCard, :clubs =\> BlackCard } two\_clubs = Cards[:clubs].new(2) Beyond that, it’s just syntax and idiom. (Well, and the idea that the base types include regexes, ranges, strings, and maps, a.k.a hashes.) } Thanks, } Steve –Greg ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/6 "2006-02-27T16:13:25Z")
On Feb 27, 2006, at 12:37 AM, Tsume wrote: > Okay, license explained. Any questions? Oops, thank you Tsume! –Steve ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/7 "2006-02-27T18:07:09Z")
On Tue, 2006-02-28 at 00:12 +0900, Stephen W. wrote: > On Feb 27, 2006, at 12:37 AM, Tsume wrote: > > > Okay, license explained. Any questions? > > Oops, thank you Tsume! If you have any problems embedding Ruby in any program, we would be glad to help. Happy adventures. Tsume ---
**Author:** ![sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sgware](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sgware)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/curriculum-for-teaching-ruby-to-c-professionals/74067/8 "2006-02-28T06:24:28Z")
On Feb 27, 2006, at 12:58 AM, Dave B. wrote: > Stephen W.: > > > So, I’m seeking advice on how to approach my presentation. Thanks to both Dave and Kev for the advice! –Steve