Programming Ruby For Newbies

Howdy there,
I have always been interested in programming. I looked for books, but it
treated me like a pro. Please let me state now: I have not done any
programming before.

I looked around, and Ruby seems most appealing to me, so I picked it as
a first language; my mother tongue. :stuck_out_tongue:

Now what do I want? I am looking for a programming Ruby for dummies, for
those who havenā€™t type a single command line in their lifetime. Now I
tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Iā€™m not asking for you to do my simple search on the net, Iā€™m asking for
your recommendation or referrals.

Thanks in advanced,
Jin

Jin D. wrote:

Now what do I want? I am looking for a programming Ruby for dummies, for
those who havenā€™t type a single command line in their lifetime. Now I
tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

Books are so Last Millenium.

Try a website where you are coached to write Ruby code:

http://tryruby.hobix.com/

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Please donā€™t tempt us. :wink:

Hi ā€“

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007, Jin D. wrote:

tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Iā€™m not asking for you to do my simple search on the net, Iā€™m asking for
your recommendation or referrals.

You should check out Chris P.'s book ā€œLearn to Programā€, which is an
intro to programming that uses Ruby to teach you.

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

David

Jin D. wrote:

tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Check out Peter C.'s Beginning_Ruby, from Apress.

[email protected] wrote:

a first language; my mother tongue. :stuck_out_tongue:
your recommendation or referrals.

You should check out Chris P.'s book ā€œLearn to Programā€, which is an
intro to programming that uses Ruby to teach you.

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

David

I agree - I strongly recommend this one!

Cheers,
Mohit.
9/4/2007 | 11:12 AM.

Mohit S. wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

a first language; my mother tongue. :stuck_out_tongue:
your recommendation or referrals.

You should check out Chris P.'s book ā€œLearn to Programā€, which is an
intro to programming that uses Ruby to teach you.

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

David

I agree - I strongly recommend this one!

Cheers,
Mohit.
9/4/2007 | 11:12 AM.

I second that second!

Ruby is my first language as well, and Chris P.'s book was essential!
Buy it. Itā€™s worth it.

2007/9/4, Jin D. [email protected]:

Now what do I want? I am looking for a programming Ruby for dummies, for
those who havenā€™t type a single command line in their lifetime. Now I
tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

I really love whyā€™s guide: http://poignantguide.net/ruby/ It woke the
interest for Ruby in me and kept me digging deeper in it. I love the
cartoons and the crazy sidebars

Jin D. wrote:

Now I
tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

Iā€™m reading it now, and I agree with youā€“a newcomer to programming has
no chance of understanding it, so donā€™t feel bad.

The Pickaxe is best as a reference or a starting point for
experienced programmers, but indispensible as a reference book for Ruby.
Chris P.'s ā€œLearning to Programā€ is excellent for anyone completely
new to programming.
After that, Peter C.'s book, Beginning Ruby, From Novice to
Professional, might not make you professional (thatā€™s the Apress
series subtitle, but it will take you on a tour of lots of things you
can do with Ruby.
This mailing list is also definitely the right place for questions.

I am also a Ruby and programming newb, and I have bought countless
books. I would recommend that you start with Chris P.'s ā€œLearn to
Program.ā€ From there, I would go with David Blackā€™s ā€œRuby for Rails,ā€
particularly if you plan to get into Rails. Other responses mentioned
Peter C.'s ā€œBeginning Rubyā€ and I found that to be a good book as
well.

Rahlyn

2007/9/4, Thomas W. [email protected]:

I really love whyā€™s guide: http://poignantguide.net/ruby/ It woke the
interest for Ruby in me and kept me digging deeper in it. I love the
cartoons and the crazy sidebars

Ah, thereā€™s also a book form of whyā€™s guide, but I canā€™t find the shop
right now.

Jin D. wrote:

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

There is something close:

hi,
Also check http://www.rubyist.net/~slagell/ruby/examples.html
-Ayyappan K.
Jin D. wrote:

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Iā€™m not asking for you to do my simple search on the net, Iā€™m asking for
your recommendation or referrals.

On Sep 3, 2007, at 9:50 PM, Phlip wrote:

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby
guide
for dummies.

Please donā€™t tempt us. :wink:

My only problem with For Dummy books is that they have poor paper
quality. 'Nuff said.

-------------------------------------------------------|
~ Ari
crap my sig wonā€™t fit

Like all books, many publishersā€™ quality varies within a series from
title to title though the covers look similar.
Luckily, with Ruby, almost all the books are very very good.
If you want to learn Rails at some point, you want to get the book
from Sitepoint or the Friends of Ed book. Theyā€™re both pretty good to
people new at programming and new at Ruby and new at web applications.
David Blackā€™s book is excellent for itā€™s incredible and unique Ruby
insights, but itā€™s approach to Rails is a bit out of date. That said,
itā€™s still a very good book that should be in your Ruby library. Itā€™s
just too bad that the middle section dedicated to Ruby isnā€™t
rewritten and bound as a purely Ruby book.
Youā€™ll see his posts here FREQUENTLY. Davidā€™s posts are always worth
reading, no matter what youā€™re doing with Ruby.
But you will see a whole host of names of people who post here
regularly that also have lots of insight and are very helpful.

Donā€™t hesitate to visit the web sites of books and their authors.
Ruby and Rails authors are nice people and will actually respond to
you and try to help you if they can.

Jin D. wrote:

Howdy there,
I have always been interested in programming. I looked for books, but it
treated me like a pro. Please let me state now: I have not done any
programming before.

I looked around, and Ruby seems most appealing to me, so I picked it as
a first language; my mother tongue. :stuck_out_tongue:

Now what do I want? I am looking for a programming Ruby for dummies, for
those who havenā€™t type a single command line in their lifetime. Now I
tried to read Programming Ruby, commonly called The Pickaxe, but again,
the reader was treated as the bookā€™s subject aficionado.

To sum up my rambling in one sentence: I want a programming ruby guide
for dummies.

Iā€™m not asking for you to do my simple search on the net, Iā€™m asking for
your recommendation or referrals.

Thanks in advanced,
Jin

"You should check out Chris P.'s book ā€œLearn to Programā€, which is an
intro to programming that uses Ruby to teach you.

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/"

I agree with David, this was the first programming book I ever read. You
will want to read it twice though. I was in the same boat you were in. I
hate reading, and it takes me a while to understand some of these
things. He has you do small examples in the book and gives you small
tests. If you make it through completely 1 time through, then start back
at the beginning like itā€™s your first time through, and you will catch
so much you missed the first time.

~Jeremy

I agree, itā€™s a very good starting point. Many books teach you about the
language but not about Programming. I think Iā€™ve learned more about
Languages
from books and more about Programming from Code and Wikipedia. Some
thing like
that web site is going to be very good for you.

You might also look to get a decent book on learning to program, that
while
expecting you to know a bit of programming. Doesnā€™t expect you to know
jack
about Ruby. Generally I like Oā€™Reilly books such as Learning Perl. Once
youā€™re
further along in learning, you will value having such a book and not
having to
get one later (or skip all together).

I started off with the Ruby U.ā€™s Guide and started playing with irb
when I
decided to learn Ruby.

TerryP.

On Sep 4, 2007, at 6:18 PM, Terry P. wrote:

Iā€™m not asking for you to do my simple search on the net, Iā€™m
asking for
your recommendation or referrals.

You should check out Chris P.'s book ā€œLearn to Programā€, which
is an
intro to programming that uses Ruby to teach you.

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

If you donā€™t like reading things online (like me),
you can also get it in book form. Itā€™s got a couple edits, but mostly
itā€™s the same and has excellent paper quality.

Plus, the book reads like an awesome conversation.

Ari
-------------------------------------------|
Nietzsche is my copilot

Hi ā€“

On Wed, 5 Sep 2007, Ari B. wrote:

If you donā€™t like reading things online (like me),
you can also get it in book form. Itā€™s got a couple edits, but mostly itā€™s
the same and has excellent paper quality.

By ā€œChris P.'s bookā€ I meantā€¦ Chris P.'s book :slight_smile: Thereā€™s a link
to it on that page, along with the online tutorial version which I
forgot to mention.

David

Jonathan D. wrote:

Buy it. Itā€™s worth it.
My personal dream book is ā€œLearn to Pragmatically Program Ruby for
Rails, Head First (with Foxes)ā€ by Chris P., Dave T., David
Black, Kathy Sierra and _why the lucky stiff, but I doubt that will
ever get written (-;

jwm