Asp Forum - What is the bes Ruby's book for beginners?

Renato Veneroso

5/15/2008 4:25:00 PM

Hi everybody,

This is my first message to this forum.

I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
scratch.

What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
content and easiness of reading and learning.

Sorry if this question has been posted before. I did a quick search on
the forum trying to find a topic like this one but I didn't find it.

Thanks in advance.
--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....

18 Answers

Phillip Gawlowski

5/15/2008 4:34:00 PM

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Renato Veneroso wrote:
| Hi everybody,
|
| This is my first message to this forum.
|
| I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
| think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
| and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
| anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
| scratch.
|
| What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
| content and easiness of reading and learning.

Well, there is _why's Poignant Guide. Chris Pine's Learn to Program
(though that is of less use for you, since you know your way around a
programming language :P) is quite good, too.

Though, you might have the best result with Programming Ruby by Dave
Thomas et al.

A free version is available for free online (though, it covers Ruby 1.6,
so is a bit outdated).

Also, Huw Collingbourne just announced his introductory book for Ruby.

Note: all of these are free in one form or another, and there are
probably even more introductory books available on Amazon and in your
local Borders. :)

The links:

_why: poignantguide.net
Chris Pine: pine.fm/LearnToProgram/
Dave Thomas: www.ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/
Huw Collingbourne: http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Bo...

- --
Phillip Gawlowski
Twitter: twitter.com/cynicalryan
Blog: http://justarubyist.bl...

~ - You know you've been hacking too long when...
...you dream you have to write device drivers for your refrigerator, washing
machine, and other major household appliances before you can use them.
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7stud --

5/15/2008 4:35:00 PM

Renato Veneroso wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> This is my first message to this forum.
>
> I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
> think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
> and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
> anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
> scratch.
>
> What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
> content and easiness of reading and learning.
>

While I don't think it is a very good book, you should probably get
"Programming Ruby 2d edition" because I think it may be the best there
is. The first part of the book is a tutorial, and the second part of
the book is a Ruby reference, which you definitely need because the Ruby
docs are so bad.

As a back up book/reference, you might want to try "The Ruby Way (2nd
ed)".
--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....

Victor Reyes

5/15/2008 4:57:00 PM

[Note: parts of this message were removed to make it a legal post.]

Although I have over a dozen Ruby books, I find myself using the following
two very frequently:

The Ruby Way - 2nd Edition Hal Fulton
Programming Ruby 2nd Edition Dave Thomas

Victor

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 12:33 PM, Phillip Gawlowski <
cmdjackryan@googlemail.com> wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Renato Veneroso wrote:
> | Hi everybody,
> |
> | This is my first message to this forum.
> |
> | I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
> | think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
> | and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
> | anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
> | scratch.
> |
> | What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
> | content and easiness of reading and learning.
>
> Well, there is _why's Poignant Guide. Chris Pine's Learn to Program
> (though that is of less use for you, since you know your way around a
> programming language :P) is quite good, too.
>
> Though, you might have the best result with Programming Ruby by Dave
> Thomas et al.
>
> A free version is available for free online (though, it covers Ruby 1.6,
> so is a bit outdated).
>
> Also, Huw Collingbourne just announced his introductory book for Ruby.
>
> Note: all of these are free in one form or another, and there are
> probably even more introductory books available on Amazon and in your
> local Borders. :)
>
>
> The links:
>
> _why: poignantguide.net
> Chris Pine: pine.fm/LearnToProgram/
> Dave Thomas: www.ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/
> Huw Collingbourne: http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Bo...
>
> - --
> Phillip Gawlowski
> Twitter: twitter.com/cynicalryan
> Blog: http://justarubyist.bl...
>
> ~ - You know you've been hacking too long when...
> ...you dream you have to write device drivers for your refrigerator,
> washing
> machine, and other major household appliances before you can use them.
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.8 (MingW32)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail....
>
> iEYEARECAAYFAkgsZfoACgkQbtAgaoJTgL/taACdHX30KepvrIZp3w2wW/2knI9g
> UBcAn3WmvPtLVCPf37BMn68j9q6NTTaN
> =lG0n
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
>

Tim Hunter

5/15/2008 5:00:00 PM

Renato Veneroso wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> This is my first message to this forum.
>
> I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
> think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
> and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
> anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
> scratch.
>
> What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
> content and easiness of reading and learning.
>
> Sorry if this question has been posted before. I did a quick search on
> the forum trying to find a topic like this one but I didn't find it.
>
> Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Ruby!

Peter Cooper's _Beginning_Ruby:_From_Novice_to_Professional_ is a good
starting book if you don't have a lot of programming experience. Since
you do have a lot of programming experience you could easily get by with
Dave Thomas'
_Programming_Ruby:_The_Pragmatic_Programmers'_Guide,_Second_Edition_,
which has already taught 1000's of people - including me - about Ruby.
If you want two books about Ruby, Hal Fulton's _The_Ruby_Way_ would be a
good book to buy next.

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....

John

5/15/2008 6:38:00 PM

You'll love Ruby.

The book that got me really understanding how to tackle beginner
problems was Everyday Scripting with Ruby for Teams, Testers and You
by Brian Marick. It's for the true beginner.

You'll also want to devour "Ruby Cookbook" (O'Reilly) by Carleson and
Richardson. It's never farther than arms reach for me.

Unlike other books mentioned in this post, mine will cost you real,
physical legal tender.

pat eyler

5/15/2008 7:11:00 PM

I'm a fan of Peter Cooper's Beginning Ruby.

http://on-ruby.bl.../2007/04/reviewing-beginning...

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:24 AM, Renato Veneroso <rveneroso@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> This is my first message to this forum.
>
> I'm interested in learning Ruby and would like to know what book you
> think I should start with. I've worked as a developer for over 17 years
> and as a Java developer for 3 and a half years. However I don't know
> anything about Ruby. So I need a book that teaches Ruby from the
> scratch.
>
> What book do you advice me reading? I want a book that is good both in
> content and easiness of reading and learning.
>
> Sorry if this question has been posted before. I did a quick search on
> the forum trying to find a topic like this one but I didn't find it.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> --
> Posted via http://www.ruby-....
>
>

--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------
Duty makes us do things, Love make us do things well.
http://on-ruby.bl... http://on-erlang.bl...
http://on-soccer.bl...

Lee Jarvis

5/15/2008 9:07:00 PM

I personally don't think the pickaxe book is very good for learning
Ruby from a beginners perspective. But it is no doubt a great
reference. I would go for "The Ruby Way" or Chris Pine's tutorial to
get you started.

The new O'Reilly book co-authored by Matz is also available, but I
haven't seen many reviews yet.

Regards,
Lee

Rick DeNatale

5/15/2008 9:52:00 PM

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Lee Jarvis <ljjarvis@googlemail.com> wrote:
> I personally don't think the pickaxe book is very good for learning
> Ruby from a beginners perspective. But it is no doubt a great
> reference. I would go for "The Ruby Way" or Chris Pine's tutorial to
> get you started.
>
> The new O'Reilly book co-authored by Matz is also available, but I
> haven't seen many reviews yet.

On the other hand, a lot of folks seem to like the tutorial parts of
the pickaxe, and the new O'Reilly "The Ruby Programming Language" has
very little in the way of a tutorial but is a GREAT reference.

There's really no one-size fits all recommendation for a beginner, a
lot depends on what the beginner already knows, is he a complete new
comer to programming, or someone with experience from other languages,
who needs to be de-programmed first <G>

I've heard lot's of praise for Chris Pine's book, but I've got no
direct experience.

While "The Ruby Way" get's lots of recommendations, personally I was
put off by the attempt to be overly broad in coverage, but more by
very poor proofreading. I don't know about the 1st ed, but the 2nd ed
is plagued by lots of little errors.
--
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denh...

Dave Thomas

5/15/2008 11:01:00 PM

On May 15, 2008, at 4:52 PM, Rick DeNatale wrote:
>
> On the other hand, a lot of folks seem to like the tutorial parts of
> the pickaxe, and the new O'Reilly "The Ruby Programming Language" has
> very little in the way of a tutorial but is a GREAT reference.

This is a topic that's been vexing me a lot in the last few weeks.

I'm working on the third edition, and I keep going back and forth on
the tutorial section. I personally like the quirkiness of doing things
like describing classes before expressions, simply because it gives us
a vocabulary to talk about things. But I know other people feel its
the wrong way around--explanations should build bottom up.

I've been trying it both ways, and I'm frankly stalled. I'd be
interested to hear opinions. Keep as is (perhaps losing the jukebox,
and adding a chapter on basic OO for people coming from procedural
languages), or reorder it into something more conventional?

Dave

Alec Ross

5/15/2008 11:58:00 PM

In message <7DB48A4C-7FBB-45EC-A701-15F58EA85895@pragprog.com>, Dave
Thomas <dave@pragprog.com> writes
>
>On May 15, 2008, at 4:52 PM, Rick DeNatale wrote:
>>
>> On the other hand, a lot of folks seem to like the tutorial parts of
>> the pickaxe, and the new O'Reilly "The Ruby Programming Language" has
>> very little in the way of a tutorial but is a GREAT reference.
>
>
>This is a topic that's been vexing me a lot in the last few weeks.
>
>I'm working on the third edition, and I keep going back and forth on
>the tutorial section. I personally like the quirkiness of doing things
>like describing classes before expressions, simply because it gives us
>a vocabulary to talk about things. But I know other people feel its
>the wrong way around--explanations should build bottom up.
>
>I've been trying it both ways, and I'm frankly stalled. I'd be
>interested to hear opinions. Keep as is (perhaps losing the jukebox,
>and adding a chapter on basic OO for people coming from procedural
>languages), or reorder it into something more conventional?
>
>
>
>
>Dave
>
>
....

People vary. I guess that most readers - at least in the near future -
would be cool w/ OO. I'd suggest a pointer to an appendix for those
that are not.

Thanks for the books, and Best Regards,

Alec
--
Alec Ross

comp.lang.ruby

What is the bes Ruby's book for beginners?