From: dblack@...
Date: 2006-06-21T17:45:41+09:00
Subject: Re: Point me in the right direction...

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Hi --

On Wed, 21 Jun 2006, Chris Also Chris? wrote:

> Hello Ruby community!
> Let me start by saying, that this doesn=E2=80=99t really count as a techn=
ical
> question, but please humor me.

It's talk about Ruby, and this is ruby-talk, so I'd say all is well
:-)

> So after this all to long-winded explanation, I sit here with no real
> knowledge of Ruby (Or any other form of scripting for that matter.) And
> I say =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99m in dire need of beginner level tutorials on Ru=
by.=E2=80=9D I can say
> that what I am shown I pick up quickly, but I=E2=80=99m not sure where to=
 start,
> and am looking for a bit of direction. I love playing with ruby and even
> if it is only a hobby I am truly obsessed.

I know the feeling.  It started out as a hobby for me, and five years
later I resigned from a tenured professorship in another field to
become a Ruby programmer, trainer, and author.

> Any feedback on where to start, or perhaps some tutorials, would be much
> appreciated.

Have a look at "Learn to Program" by Chris Pine, which uses Ruby to
teach programming (and is therefore also an introductory Ruby book).

> P.S. I have looked for tutorials, but am also curious to know where
> others started there journeys in Ruby.

In a Borders bookstore in East Brunswick, New Jersey, early November,
2000.  I picked up the Pickaxe book ("Programming Ruby" by the
Pragmatic Programmers -- which, by the way, you will want to own if
you pursue Ruby at all -- and I was hooked immediately.

Must go catch plane to International Rails Conference, a production of
the non-profit Ruby support and advocacy corporation I co-founded a
year or two thereafter....  It's been a fun 5.5 years :-)


David

P.S. If you get into Rails, there's also an introductory Ruby book
written with the Rails developer in mind -- though there's a rumor
that it's actually pretty informative for people interested in Ruby
generally: http://www.manning.com/black.

--=20
David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net)
Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com)

See what the readers are saying about "Ruby for Rails"!
http://www.rubypowerandlight.com/quotes
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