From: ptkwt@... (Phil Tomson)
Date: 2006-01-05T18:58:00+09:00
Subject: Re: About The Pickaxe 2nd ed. and Ruby 2

In article <1136449760.808008.72290@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
Surgeon <biyokuantum@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>I have just ordered the Pickaxe 2nd ed. from Amazon. But now I am
>thinking that in a near future Ruby 2 will be released and this
>wondeful book is on Ruby 1.8. Well, what will happen then? Will it be
>"d�mod�"?

First off, I don't know if anyone really knows when Ruby 2.0 will actually be 
released.  The current 1.9 experimental branch is the testbed for things 2.0.  
If history is any guide I doubt you'll see 2.0 before Christmas of 2006 (Matz 
likes to give us all presents), so at a minimum you'll get a year of use from 
the current Pickaxe.  However, if I had to guess I'd say that for Christmas 2006 
we'll see 1.8.6 or 1.8.7 with 2.0 not arriving til Christmas of 2007 (if it 
comes earlier I'll be pleasantly surprised ;-)

I suspect you'll be glad you got the Pickaxe now because you can start using 
it as a reference for Ruby 1.8 which will remain relevant for at least a couple 
of years.  Even if 2.0 arrives early, the current Pickaxe book will stil be 
something like 95%+ compatible.... differences will likely be posted on the 
web somewhere (as was the case in the 1.6 -> 1.8 transition).  

Phil