From: Kero <kero@...>
Date: 2005-08-31T06:51:23+09:00
Subject: Re: [OT] Pragmatic programmers

>> The Pragmatic Programmers guide is the next part of the puzzle. I
>> think it was right to do other tutorials first, before getting
>> the book or pdf, because although the book starts by assuming a
>> new user of the language, it is much more pleasant to work
>> through if you already have some ground work done.
>
> What I find difficult about the book is that one keeps coming across
> terms that are used before they're explained, which means a lot of
> flicking backwards and forwards through the book. I was trying to
> work out how to sort an array of [a, b] elements by the b value
> yesterday, and sorting isn't covered at all well, other than in the
> library sections. There are other cases of terms being used without
> any useful explanation at all (scope, binding,...). Maybe they need
> more input from newer users, I don't remember these issues with
> Programming Perl, but maybe Larry Wall is a better author. Writing
> good documentation is a whole different ball game from writing
> clever programs.

If you don't understand e.g. binding, skip it and come back later.

The book is called "Programming Ruby", not "Learning how to program".
I really have no idea what the book should explain about sorting.
(btw, the easy solution for your problem is called "sort_by")

I had about ten years of programming under my belt when I read the
pickaxe for the first time. It's been four years since, and I still
learn from it. There is so much in Ruby that you do not need every day,
and most is in the book; you can't expect to grasp it all by reading it
cover to cover once.

NB: matz wrote ruby, not the pickaxe.

+--- Kero ------------------------- kero@chello@nl ---+
|  all the meaningless and empty words I spoke        |
|                       Promises -- The Cranberries   |
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