3 ms·

If I were to want to start learning Ruby (with little programming experience) what would be the learning track to take in books, etc.?

by sigzero 15y ago

sabat 15y ago
Relevant enough question IMHO, despite the downvotes. Chris Pine's book Learn to Program has a good reputation, and it tackles both of your goals: learning to program, and learning Ruby. The second edition is set to be released in five days. http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-Pragmatic-Programmers-Chris/dp/0976694042 http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-Pragmatic-Programmers-Ch... http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/
- telemachos 15y ago
  > The second edition is set to be released in five days. I think you misunderstood the Amazon site. The book's second edition was released in 2009. (I have a hard copy here that I confirmed with.) And the PragProg site doesn't say anything about an upcoming 3rd edition. I think you misunderstood this Amazon note: "In stock on November 6, 2011." That just means they are out of stock and expect to get more by November 6th.
  - sabat 15y ago
    You're correct. I saw "in stock ..." and assumed the second edition was brand new.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
qxb 15y ago
My first two steps: I started from nothing with Pine's Learn to Program, and then moved on to Learn Ruby the Hard Way. http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/ http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/ After you've got the basics, the best way to learn is to have a problem to solve or need to address. About halfway through LRTHW I started making notes on little programs I could try to build once I'd finished the course. None were very original: a custom contacts book, a script that scraped football scores and added them to a text file, a simple single-serving website that told me the weather for my area. My learning spiralled out from there. Finally, this is an online version of the famous Pickaxe book, which I found to be a good reference. I wouldn't recommend it as a first port of call if you're new to programming, but once the terminology (object, class, method, variable etc) has sunk in it's useful for looking things up. http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/ http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/ Have fun!
- jamesbritt 15y ago
  BTW, that online copy is the 1st edition of the book, for ruby 1.8.6 (or maybe even earlier). The language is now at 1.9.3, and while things are fundamentally the same there are assorted little differences. Still, as a free intro to the language it's not bad. If you want to buy a book I'd suggest The Ruby Programming Language, as well as anything by Gregory Brown or David A. Black. Greg also produces the Practicing Ruby newsletter which I cannot recommend highly enough. http://practicingruby.com/ http://practicingruby.com/ Greg does amazing stuff. See also http://university.rubymendicant.com http://university.rubymendicant.com and http://blog.rubybestpractices.com http://blog.rubybestpractices.com

If I were to want to start learning Ruby (with little programming experience) what would be the learning track to take in books, etc.?

by sigzero 15y ago

If I were to want to start learning Ruby (with little programming experience) what would be the learning track to take in books, etc.?

sabat 15y ago

Relevant enough question IMHO, despite the downvotes. Chris Pine's book Learn to Program has a good reputation, and it tackles both of your goals: learning to program, and learning Ruby. The second edition is set to be released in five days. http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-Pragmatic-Programmers-Chris/dp/0976694042 http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-Pragmatic-Programmers-Ch... http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/

telemachos 15y ago
> The second edition is set to be released in five days. I think you misunderstood the Amazon site. The book's second edition was released in 2009. (I have a hard copy here that I confirmed with.) And the PragProg site doesn't say anything about an upcoming 3rd edition. I think you misunderstood this Amazon note: "In stock on November 6, 2011." That just means they are out of stock and expect to get more by November 6th.
- sabat 15y ago
  You're correct. I saw "in stock ..." and assumed the second edition was brand new.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

qxb 15y ago

My first two steps: I started from nothing with Pine's Learn to Program, and then moved on to Learn Ruby the Hard Way. http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/ http://ruby.learncodethehardway.org/ After you've got the basics, the best way to learn is to have a problem to solve or need to address. About halfway through LRTHW I started making notes on little programs I could try to build once I'd finished the course. None were very original: a custom contacts book, a script that scraped football scores and added them to a text file, a simple single-serving website that told me the weather for my area. My learning spiralled out from there. Finally, this is an online version of the famous Pickaxe book, which I found to be a good reference. I wouldn't recommend it as a first port of call if you're new to programming, but once the terminology (object, class, method, variable etc) has sunk in it's useful for looking things up. http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/ http://ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/ Have fun!

jamesbritt 15y ago
BTW, that online copy is the 1st edition of the book, for ruby 1.8.6 (or maybe even earlier). The language is now at 1.9.3, and while things are fundamentally the same there are assorted little differences. Still, as a free intro to the language it's not bad. If you want to buy a book I'd suggest The Ruby Programming Language, as well as anything by Gregory Brown or David A. Black. Greg also produces the Practicing Ruby newsletter which I cannot recommend highly enough. http://practicingruby.com/ http://practicingruby.com/ Greg does amazing stuff. See also http://university.rubymendicant.com http://university.rubymendicant.com and http://blog.rubybestpractices.com http://blog.rubybestpractices.com