# Ruby in a Nutshell **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [February 28, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662 "2009-02-28T16:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/1 "2009-02-28T16:55:36Z")
I’m thinking of buying & reading Ruby in a Nutshell (O’Reilly, 2001), but am concerned that it may be outdated. The stable version at the time of publication was Ruby 1.6. Is this still worth the investment? I’m really looking for an extremely concise, but in-depth guide to Ruby. I own (and have read) the Pick Axe and The Ruby Way, but neither of them are really what I want. I’m concerned with the mechanics, syntax, and libraries, but most of the books (and lupine cartoons, however amusing) just seem to be cursory love letters of the form “look at all this cool stuff you can do with Ruby!” That’s great, but it’s not what I need right now. ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/2 "2009-02-28T17:04:26Z")
Jeff S. wrote: > I need right now. You want _The\_Ruby\_Programming\_Language_, by David Flanagan & Yukihiro Matsumoto, O’Reilly, 2008. It describes Ruby 1.8 and some Ruby 1.9. At 400+ pages, it’s in-depth but hardly what I’d call “concise.” ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/3 "2009-02-28T17:17:56Z")
On 28.02.2009 17:02, Tim H. wrote: > > this cool stuff you can do with Ruby!" That’s great, but it’s not what > > I need right now. > > You want _The\_Ruby\_Programming\_Language_, by David Flanagan & Yukihiro > Matsumoto, O’Reilly, 2008. It describes Ruby 1.8 and some Ruby 1.9. At > 400+ pages, it’s in-depth but hardly what I’d call “concise.” Jeff, IMHO the upcoming book by David A. Black could be for you - although it is not short either. But it covers 1.9: > **[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... An then there’s the material which can be found online: > **[Ruby-Doc.org: Documenting the Ruby Language](https://ruby-doc.org/gettingstarted/)** > > Fast, searchable Ruby documentation for core and standard libraries. Plus, links to tutorials, guides, books, and related sites. Kind regards robert ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/4 "2009-03-01T16:59:16Z")
On 01.03.2009 16:21, Jeff S. wrote: > Robert K. wrote: > > > On 28.02.2009 17:02, Tim H. wrote: > > > > > Jeff S. wrote: > > > > > > > I’m thinking of buying & reading Ruby in a Nutshell (O’Reilly, 2001), > > > > > I’m really looking for an extremely concise, but in-depth guide to > > > > Ruby. > > Jeff, IMHO the upcoming book by David A. Black could be for you - > > although it is not short either. But it covers 1.9: > > > > [The Well-Grounded Rubyist](http://www.manning.com/black2/) > The Manning book looks promising, too. The site says that “The > Well-Grounded Rubyist is [a revised edition of] Ruby for Rails.” I’ve > seen positive reviews of that book. Rails is the primary reason for my > recently rekindled interest in Ruby. You should be aware though that David’s new book is solely about Ruby as a language. It covers all the basics pretty good, I’d say, which is what you seem to be after if I read your original posting correctly. Kind regards robert ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/5 "2009-03-01T16:26:21Z")
Robert K. wrote: > On 28.02.2009 17:02, Tim H. wrote: > > > Jeff S. wrote: > > > > > I’m thinking of buying & reading Ruby in a Nutshell (O’Reilly, 2001), > > > I’m really looking for an extremely concise, but in-depth guide to > > > Ruby. > [Ruby-Doc.org: Documenting the Ruby Language](http://www.ruby-doc.org/gettingstarted) > Thanks, Tim and Robert. I appreciate the pointers. I’ve read a couple > of Flanagan’s books (on Java and JavaScript), and found very clear and > readable. The Manning book looks promising, too. The site says that “The Well-Grounded Rubyist is [a revised edition of] Ruby for Rails.” I’ve seen positive reviews of that book. Rails is the primary reason for my recently rekindled interest in Ruby. ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/6 "2009-03-01T17:02:14Z")
Robert K. wrote: > > > Jeff, IMHO the upcoming book by David A. Black could be for you - > > > although it is not short either. But it covers 1.9: > > > > > > [The Well-Grounded Rubyist](http://www.manning.com/black2/) > You should be aware though that David’s new book is solely about Ruby as > a language. It covers all the basics pretty good, I’d say, which is > what you seem to be after if I read your original posting correctly. Yes, thank you. Duly noted. ---
**Author:** ![sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@sprsquish](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/sprsquish)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-in-a-nutshell/161662/7 "2009-03-01T17:35:15Z")
On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 10:23 AM, Jeff S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > The Manning book looks promising, too. The site says that “The > Well-Grounded Rubyist is [a revised edition of] Ruby for Rails.” I’ve seen > positive reviews of that book. Rails is the primary reason for my recently > rekindled interest in Ruby. Well, it’s a revised edition of Ruby for Rails, updated to Ruby 1.9, but without any rails content. It’s now just a Ruby book, focused on Ruby 1.9. – Rick DeNatale Blog: [http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/](http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale](http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale) WWR: [http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale](http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale) LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale](http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale)