New Book: Everyday Scripting With Ruby

Ruby
1

Hey guys, new to the group. A couple years ago I worked my way part-
way through ‘Programming Ruby’ by Thomas & Hunt, but never did much w/
it.

I just got a copy of ‘Everyday Scripting With Ruby’ by Brian M.
and like it so far. Good for someone new to the language, too simple
for advanced users though.

What are the best resources on the web for new Ruby users? Any useful
Ruby-related blogs?

Thanks!!
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

2

On 3/7/07, Speedmaster [email protected] wrote:

What are the best resources on the web for new Ruby users? Any useful
Ruby-related blogs?

http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/community/weblogs/

Check out the aggregators, in particular.

3

On Mar 7, 12:10 pm, “Avdi G.” [email protected] wrote:

Avdi
Thanks Avdi!

4

Avdi G. wrote:

On 3/7/07, Speedmaster [email protected] wrote:

What are the best resources on the web for new Ruby users? Any useful
Ruby-related blogs?

Also, there’s the RubyMentor project for new Ruby users…

http://rubymentor.rubyforge.org/

This hooks up Ruby N.s (like me) with folks who have more
experience… Check it out and you’ll see what it’s all about :slight_smile:

–
Samantha

http://www.babygeek.org/

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all
things are at risk.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

5

Samantha wrote:

Also, there’s the RubyMentor project for new Ruby users…

http://rubymentor.rubyforge.org/

This hooks up Ruby N.s (like me) with folks who have more
experience… Check it out and you’ll see what it’s all about :slight_smile:

–
Samantha

http://www.babygeek.org/

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all
things are at risk.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

That’s a freaking cool website.

Nice one!

6

Jean N. wrote:

Samantha

:slight_smile: Aur S. gets the credit for the concept. As for the logo, it’s
wonderful what the Ruby logo kit, GIMP, and collaboration can do. :slight_smile:

–
Samantha

http://www.babygeek.org/

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all
things are at risk.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

7

On Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 01:25:09AM +0900, Speedmaster wrote:

Hey guys, new to the group. A couple years ago I worked my way part-
way through ‘Programming Ruby’ by Thomas & Hunt, but never did much w/
it.

I just got a copy of ‘Everyday Scripting With Ruby’ by Brian M.
and like it so far. Good for someone new to the language, too simple
for advanced users though.

I want to get my hands on that one. It’s probably ideal for the people
I know who are expressing interest in Ruby – too experienced with all
things programming for Learn to Program (by Chris P.) and not as well
served by something that just drops you in head-first like the Pickaxe
(by Dave T. and Andrew H.). That’s not to say the other two books
aren’t good, of course – just that I think Everyday Scripting might be
the perfect middle road.

8

Speedmaster wrote:
…

I just got a copy of ‘Everyday Scripting With Ruby’ by Brian M.
and like it so far. Good for someone new to the language, too simple
for advanced users though.
…

Nice coverage - basics, xUnit, web page scripting. Just what I need.

9

On 3/8/07, Chad P. [email protected] wrote:

I just got a copy of ‘Everyday Scripting With Ruby’ by Brian M.
and like it so far. Good for someone new to the language, too simple
for advanced users though.

I want to get my hands on that one. It’s probably ideal for the people
I know who are expressing interest in Ruby – too experienced with all
things programming for Learn to Program (by Chris P.) and not as well
served by something that just drops you in head-first like the Pickaxe
(by Dave T. and Andrew H.). That’s not to say the other two books
aren’t good, of course – just that I think Everyday Scripting might be
the perfect middle road.

Thats what I think too. Have 3 copies here at work, and me and the
testers
are going through them. Too early to say how they are getting on (will
know
next week), but there are some great touches.

I just really like the way he introduces programming concepts as you
need
them. The early examples hardcode variable names (of filenames) so he
shows you how to make the script more reusable by passing them in from
the command line instead.

All the examples are like this - he takes raw, inelegant, un-DRY,
learner
level scripting to its ultimate outcome - brittle, limited-reuse
scripts, and
then introduces the programming concepts necessary to overcome this:
parameterising your scripts, defining functions, using data collections,
making your own classes, using TestCase properly, and so on.

The standard of Ruby writing is quite high, but the audience for this
book is generally not well served. Its a great book, and I thoroughly
enjoy working through it (the regular expression section is now
permanently bookmarked).

My Girlfriend and Dad are working their way through Chris P.'s
book, and I am thinking of getting them this next.

10

On 3/7/07, Chad P. [email protected] wrote:

I know who are expressing interest in Ruby – too experienced with all
things programming for Learn to Program (by Chris P.) and not as well
served by something that just drops you in head-first like the Pickaxe
(by Dave T. and Andrew H.). That’s not to say the other two books
aren’t good, of course – just that I think Everyday Scripting might be
the perfect middle road.

I’ve found the really practical books are often the most useful. The
Cookbook series from O’Reilly is often good because there’s as much
about idioms and libraries as there is about the language itself.
Often language-centric stuff is kind of abstract. (On the other hand,
all that stuff in the Agile Rails book about the structure of Rails
itself is pretty damn handy.)