# Learning the fine points of Ruby **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [July 20, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962 "2007-07-20T18:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/1 "2007-07-20T18:33:44Z")
Hey all, I adore Ruby. I love everything about it. The debugging, the community, the syntax… But my code sorta looks like VBScript - simple and generic. I have seen some really great Ruby code - some I can understand, others I just can’t wrap my mind around. But how do you learn to think like that? Can anyone recommend a book or site that teaches you to write Ruby succinctly and rubily? thanks, aRi --------------------------------------------| If you’re not living on the edge, then you’re just wasting space. ---
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/2 "2007-07-20T18:52:47Z")
On Jul 20, 2007, at 12:32 PM, Ari B. wrote: > Hey all, > I adore Ruby. I love everything about it. The debugging, the > community, the syntax… > > But my code sorta looks like VBScript - simple and generic. I have > seen some really great Ruby code - some I can understand, others I > just can’t wrap my mind around. But how do you learn to think like > that? By reading and writing lots of Ruby code. > Can anyone recommend a book or site that teaches you to write Ruby > succinctly and rubily? I know you have participated in Ruby Q., but have you really explored James’ Ruby Q. web site which makes a huge amount of interesting code available for you to read? It may be just what you’re looking for. Regards, Morton ---
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/3 "2007-07-20T19:28:50Z")
On 7/20/07, Morton G. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Regards, Morton Read the PickAxe book, read it for 15 to 30 minutes per day. > **[Programming Ruby (2nd edition)](https://pragprog.com/titles/ruby/index.html)** > > We improve the lives of professional developers. We create timely, practical books on classic and cutting-edge topics to help you learn and practice your craft, and accelerate your career. Come learn with us. Force yourself to live on the command line with the ‘irb’ and ‘ri’ tools (PickAxe talks about this). Avoid a GUI for coding and use vi or emacs (during this period a GUI will make you dumb). And if you are into Rails about two or three months later read the Ruby appendix in the Agile book. Then read the PickAxe book again about 12 months later. Participate in your local Ruby group, find yours here: [http://rubyholic.com/](http://rubyholic.com/) Start a group if one is not in your proximity. Write your first gem, use hoe because it will make it really easy for you to publish it. [http://seattlerb.rubyforge.org/hoe/](http://seattlerb.rubyforge.org/hoe/) ---
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/4 "2007-07-21T00:40:26Z")
I think “The Ruby Way” is the original poster’s best bet in terms of writing idiomatic Ruby. It’s very much about writing Ruby that looks like Ruby, as opposed to other languages, and that was definitely a core part of the original question. Another way to do it is to get the source code for a package like Rails or Rake or RSpec or really anything nifty and useful and use that code as a sort of combined puzzle and style guide. Figure out how existing packages do things, and emulate them. – Giles B. Blog: [http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com](http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com) Portfolio: [http://www.gilesgoatboy.org](http://www.gilesgoatboy.org) ---
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/5 "2007-10-27T15:50:37Z")
On 2007-07-20 12:32:32 -0400, Ari B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) said: > thanks, > aRi > --------------------------------------------| > If you’re not living on the edge, > then you’re just wasting space. Ruby Way by Hal F. is the book you need. I, too came from C# and VB and this book really helped me tremendously. ---
**Author:** ![Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Ari\_B](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ari_B)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/learning-the-fine-points-of-ruby/109962/6 "2007-07-20T19:57:07Z")
Mike M. wrote: > Read the PickAxe book, read it for 15 to 30 minutes per day. > [https://pragprog.com/titles/ruby/programming-ruby-2nd-edition/](http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/ruby/index.html) Excellent advice. To that I might add “The Ruby Way” as a great source. [http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Way-Second-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0672328844/ref=sr\_1\_1/103-4385456-5079837?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184954192&sr=1-1](http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Way-Second-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0672328844/ref=sr_1_1/103-4385456-5079837?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184954192&sr=1-1)