# Pickaxe 1 & 2 - Worth the upgrade?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pickaxe-1-2-worth-the-upgrade/58956>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [April 27, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pickaxe-1-2-worth-the-upgrade/58956 "2006-04-27T13:01:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ashiro](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ashiro](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ashiro)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pickaxe-1-2-worth-the-upgrade/58956/1 "2006-04-27T13:01:05Z")

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Hi all

I was just wondering if it would be worth me buying the second edition  
of  
Pickaxe? Is there really much difference between it and the first  
edition?

Many thanks for your responses.

All the best.

Doug

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**Author:** ![ashiro](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ashiro](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ashiro)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pickaxe-1-2-worth-the-upgrade/58956/2 "2006-04-27T14:23:24Z")

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Doug B. wrote:

> Hi all
> 
> I was just wondering if it would be worth me buying the second edition  
> of  
> Pickaxe? Is there really much difference between it and the first  
> edition?

Yes, the 2nd edition includes material about Ruby 1.8 that isn’t present  
in the 1st edition, like test/unit and RubyGems.

Also, by buying the 2nd edition you encourage the publisher to produce a  
3rd edition when the time is right.