Asp Forum - comp.lang.ruby FAQ

Hal E. Fulton

5/15/2005 6:15:00 PM

Sorry-- I have a technical problem I forgot to fix.

The preceding email, without a subject line, was the
c.l.r FAQ, quoted again below.

Hal Fulton

hal9000@hypermetrics.com wrote:
> RUBY NEWSGROUP FAQ -- Welcome to comp.lang.ruby! (Revised 2005-4-14)
>
> This FAQ contains information for those who want to:
>
> 1) learn more about Ruby, and want to
> 2) post to comp.lang.ruby or to the ruby-lang mail list, or want to
> 3) provide anonymous feedback to help us improve Ruby.
>
> This FAQ will be posted monthly. If you are reading this material
> via the mailing list or the newsgroup, note that you can find it on
> the web at: http://rubyhacker.com/c...
>
> A German version of this FAQ is maintained by Josef "Jupp" Schugt. It can be
> found at: http://oss.erdfunkstell...
>
> Note that this is *not* the Ruby language FAQ! This can be found at:
> http://www.rubygarden.org/iowa...
>
> TABLE OF CONTENTS
>
> 1 About Ruby
> 1.1 What is Ruby?
> 1.2 Where can I find out more about Ruby?
> 2 About comp.lang.ruby.
> 2.1 Tell me about comp.lang.ruby.
> 2.2 Tell me the posting guidelines for comp.lang.ruby.
> 2.3 Tell me about the prolific Matz poster.
> 2.4 How do the mailing list and newsgroup interrelate?
> 2.5 What are these 6-digit message numbers?
> 2.6 What is "POLS"?
> 3 Anything else?
>
> 1 About Ruby
>
> 1.1 What is Ruby?
>
> Ruby is a very high level, fully OO programming language. Indeed,
> Ruby is one of the relatively few pure OO languages. Yet despite
> its conceptual simplicity, Ruby is still a powerful and practical
> "industrial strength" development language.
>
> Ruby selectively integrates many good ideas taken from Perl,
> Python, Smalltalk, Eiffel, ADA, CLU, and LISP. Ruby combines
> these ideas in a natural, well-coordinated system that embodies
> the principles of least effort and least surprise to a
> substantially greater extent than most comparable languages --
> i.e., you get more bang for your buck, and what you write is more
> likely to give you what you expected to get. Ruby is thus a
> relatively easy to learn, easy to read, and easy to maintain
> language; yet it is very powerful and sophisticated.
>
> In addition to common OO features, Ruby also has threads,
> singleton methods, mixins, fully integrated closures and
> iterators, plus proper meta-classes. Ruby has a true
> mark-and-sweep garbage collector, which makes code more reliable
> and simplifies writing extensions. In summary, Ruby provides a
> very powerful and very easy to deploy "standing on the shoulders
> of giants" OO scaffolding/framework so that you can more quickly
> and easily build what you want to build, to do what you want to
> do.
>
> You will find many former (and current) Perl, Python, Java, and
> C++ users on comp.lang.ruby that can help you get up to speed in
> Ruby.
>
> Finally, Ruby is an "open source" development programming
> language.
>
> 1.2 Where can I find out more about Ruby?
>
> If you're into IRC, check out #ruby-lang on FreeNode. There are
> also other channels -- see http://rubyg...ruby....
>
> There are also many web and print resources listed below:
>
>
> Ruby's home web site:
>
> http://www.ruby-la... (Ruby home page)
>
> Follow the links to documentation, downloads, the Ruby
> Application Archive, the Ruby mail list archives, and
> lots of other interesting information.
>
> RubyForge (A major repository with hundreds of Ruby projects)
>
> http://rub...
>
> Ruby-Doc.org (A large source of Ruby documentation)
>
> RubyCentral.COM (Ruby's other major on-line docs and links site):
>
> http://www.rubyce...
>
> RubyCentral.ORG (Home of RubyCentral, Inc.)
>
> http://www.rubyce...
>
> RubyGarden (An important wiki site, very content-rich)
>
> http://rubyg...
>
> Ruby FAQ:
>
> http://www.rubygarden.org/iowa...
>
> Ruby User's Guide (introductory tutorial):
>
> http://www.rubyist.net/~slagell/ruby/...
>
> _Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby (A Ruby tutorial on acid, featuring
> cartoon foxes)
>
> http://poignantguide...
>
> Note: The list of books below is now frozen. I don't
> want to maintain this forever. We all hope the number
> of Ruby books increases, of course.
>
> English language Ruby books (recent publication order):
>
> Programming Ruby: A Pragmatic Programmers Guide
> 2nd edition. See below.
>
> Making Use of Ruby
> by Suresh Mahadevan
> Wiley; ISBN 0-471-21972-X (2002)
>
> Teach Yourself Ruby in 21 Days
> by Mark Slagell
> Sams; ISBN: 0672322528 (March, 2002)
>
> Ruby Developer's Guide
> by Michael Neumann, Robert Feldt, Lyle Johnson
> Publishers Group West; ISBN: 1928994644 (February, 2002)
>
> The Ruby Way
> by Hal Fulton
> Sams; ISBN: 0672320835 (December, 2001)
>
> Ruby In A Nutshell
> by Yukihiro Matsumoto
> O'Reilly & Associates; ISBN: 0596002149 (November, 2001)
>
> Programming Ruby: A Pragmatic Programmers Guide
> by Dave Thomas and Andrew Hunt
> Addison Wesley; ISBN: 0201710897 (2000)
> (As of Sept 2004, there is a second edition also. It is
> not open-sourced at this time.)
> Online version: http://www.rubyce...book/
> (Note that this is a *legal* first edition.)
> Download:
> http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/downloads...
> Errata:
> http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/ruby/errata/e...
>
> German language Ruby books (author alpha order):
>
> Das Einsteigerseminar Ruby. Der methodische und
> ausfÃ¼hrliche Einstieg.
> by Dirk Engel and Klaus Spreckelsen
> ISBN: 3826672429
>
> Programmieren mit Ruby
> by Armin Roehrl, Stefan Schmiedl, Clemens Wyss, et al.
> dpunkt.de; ISBN 3898641511 (February, 2002)
> Online: http://www.approximity.com/rubybuch2/node1...
>
> Programmieren mit Ruby. Handbuch fÃ¼r den pragmatischen
> Programmierer.
> Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt
> Addison-Wesley, 2002; ISBN: 382731965X.
> A German translation of the "Pickaxe" (Programming Ruby).
>
> Pickaxe translation by Juergen Katins:
> http://home.vr-web.de/juergen.katins/...
>
> Search past postings to comp.lang.ruby or the ruby-lang mail list
> (which have been mirrored to each other since mid-2000):
>
> http://groups.google.com/groups?q=comp...
> http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/ruby/ruby-talk/i...
>
> Local Ruby users and groups in your area:
>
> http://www.pragprog.com/ruby?Ruby...
>
> 2 About comp.lang.ruby
>
> 2.1 Tell me about comp.lang.ruby
>
> comp.lang.ruby was officially approved in early May, 2000.
> (Conrad Schneiker, the former maintainer of this FAQ, was
> responsible for the "net paperwork" of creating this group.)
> Here is the official charter:
>
> CHARTER: comp.lang.ruby
>
> The comp.lang.ruby newsgroup is devoted to discussions of the
> Ruby programming language and related issues.
>
> Examples of relevant postings include, but are not limited
> to, the following subjects:
>
> - Bug reports
> - Announcements of software written with Ruby
> - Examples of Ruby code
> - Suggestions for Ruby developers
> - Requests for help from new Ruby programmers
>
> The newsgroup is not moderated. Binaries are prohibited
> (except the small PGP type). Advertising is prohibited (except
> for announcements of new Ruby-related products).
>
> END CHARTER.
>
> 2.2 Tell me the posting guidelines for comp.lang.ruby.
>
> (You should also follow these guidelines for the ruby-list mail
> list, since it is mirrored to comp.lang.ruby.)
>
> (1) ALWAYS be friendly, considerate, tactful, and tasteful. We
> want to keep this forum hospitable to the growing ranks of
> newbies, very young people, and their teachers, as well as
> cater to fire breathing wizards.
>
> (2) Keep your content relevant and easy to follow. Try to keep
> your content brief and to the point, but also try to include
> all relevant information.
>
> (a) The general format guidelines (aka USENET Netiquette) are
> matters of common sense and common courtesy that make life
> easier for 3rd parties to follow along (in real time or
> when perusing archives):
>
> - PLEASE NOTE! Include quoted text from previous posts
> *BEFORE* your responses. And *selectively* quote as much
> as is relevant.
> - Use *plain* text; don't use HTML, RTF, or Word. Most
> mail or newsreader programs have an option for this; if
> yours doesn't, get a (freeware) program or use a
> web-based service that does.
> - Include examples from files as *in-line* text; don't
> use attachments.
>
> (b) If reporting a problem, give *all* the relevant
> information the first time; this isn't the psychic friends
> newsgroup. When appropriate, include:
>
> - The version of Ruby. ("ruby -v")
> - The compiler name and version used to build Ruby.
> - The OS type and level. ("uname -a")
> - The actual error messages.
> - An example (preferably simple) that produces the
> problem.
>
> (3) Make the subject line maximally informative, so that people
> who should be interested will read your post and so that people
> who wouldn't be interested can easily avoid it.
>
> *Usefully* describe the contents of your post:
>
> This is OK:
>
> "How can I do x with y on z?"
> "Problem: did x, expected y, got z."
> "BUG: doing x with module y crashed z."
>
> This is *NOT* OK:
>
> "Please help!!!"
> "Newbie question"
> "Need Ruby guru to tell me what's wrong"
>
> These prefixes have become common for subject lines:
>
> ANN: (for announcements)
> BUG: (for bug reports)
> OT: (for off-topic, if you must post off-topic)
>
> (4) Finally, be considerate: don't be too lazy. If you are
> seeking information, first make a reasonable effort to look it
> up. As appropriate, check the Ruby home page, check the Ruby
> FAQ and other documentation, use google.com to search past
> comp.lang.ruby postings, and so on.
>
> 2.3 Tell me about the prolific Matz poster.
>
> Matz (aka Yukihiro Matsumoto) is the wizard who created Ruby for
> us, so be nice to him. He is very busy, so be patient when asking
> questions. See the Ruby home page to find out more about him and
> his work. I (Conrad Schneiker) founded comp.lang.ruby at his
> suggestion. Contrary to lots of skepticism, it was approved on
> the first attempt, with 200 yes votes.
>
> 2.4 How do the mailing list and newsgroup interrelate?
>
> The mailing list is older. When the newsgroup was created, they
> diverged. In mid-2001, Dave Thomas created a two-way gateway
> that would "mirror" the newsgroup to the list and vice versa.
> (This was accomplished in 200 lines of Ruby code.) It is not
> perfect; because of variability in the news feed, sometimes
> messages are dropped or duplicated.
>
> The online archive of the mailing list therefore includes most
> of the traffic on the newsgroup, excluding the posts that were
> made before the creation of the gateway.
>
> Note: Spam or other inappropriate messages are NOT the
> responsibility of Dave Thomas, who maintains the gateway. He
> does everything in his power to deal with this issue. Do NOT
> report spam to his ISP merely because the messages come from
> his server.
>
> 2.5 What are these 6-digit message numbers?
>
> Historically, every item on the mailing list had a subject
> starting with a string like: [ruby-talk:99999]
>
> The message numbers were convenient since they were strictly
> serial and formed a good way to refer to a past message. But
> they interfered with threading; Matz removed them after the
> matter was put to a vote in early 2002.
>
> The news header still refers to this number, should anyone
> wish to retrieve it. On the mailing list this number can
> now be found in the X-Mail-Count: header.
>
> You can point to a specific message by appending it onto the
> ruby-talk.com URL; i.e. http://ruby-talk... will refer
> to message 12345. (NOTE: The above was true, but is not
> currently working.)
>
> 2.6 What is "POLS"?
>
> POLS is an abbreviation for "Principle of Least Surprise" (also
> called the Law of Least Astonishment).
>
> This term certainly did not originate in the Ruby community, but
> it has been frequently used there -- even overused or abused at
> times. After all, *every* language or software system seeks at
> some level to adhere to this principle. Is any system designed
> to be unintuitive?
>
> It is inappropriate to invoke POLS as a "magic word" when one's
> individual expectations are not met. Ruby continues to evolve,
> and Matz often makes changes based on people wishes, needs, or
> suggestions. But he cannot be bribed or threatened. Make
> suggestions if you wish, but think twice before mentioning POLS.
>
>
> 3. Anything else?
>
> If you are new to Ruby (or haven't previously taken the Ruby User
> Survey), please take a moment to anonymously tell us about your
> programming background and about your Ruby-related interests. The
> results will be reported back to the Ruby community from time to
> time. This helps us do a better job of helping each other, and to
> more effectively expand the Ruby community for our mutual benefit.
> The survey is at:
>
> http://dev.rubycentral.com/s...
>
> This FAQ was originally produced by Conrad Schneiker.
> It is now maintained by Hal Fulton (hal9000@hypermetrics.com).
> I'm interested in corrections and suggestions, but remember that
> the purpose of this FAQ is to be a brief and simple introduction
> for new comp.lang.ruby readers.
>
> In closing, one of the reasons that Ruby was designed to be
> relatively simple, uniform, yet very powerful was to make serious
> programming (among other kinds) fun. We hope you will help us
> keep comp.lang.ruby fun as well. Enjoy.
>
>

comp.lang.ruby

comp.lang.ruby FAQ

Hal E. Fulton

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