[ruby-talk:02183] Use 'Learning Perl' to learn Ruby

Dat Nguyen writes:
> While waiting for the first Ruby book in english by Dave & Andy, I wonder if 
> I can use the book 'Learning Perl' to learn Ruby. That is, I'll try to redo 
> the Perl program in that book in Ruby language.

Hmm, may I pay you my two cent? I think this idea is not the best one
probably! Whether it is or not depends on the book 'Lerning Perl'. I
do not know it, so I cannot give you *the* valid advice.

But I guess it does not make too much sense to use this book for
Ruby. This is because Perl is very different from Ruby. On the first
glance both languages seems relatively close, but I feel they are
totally different in reallity. They share some syntax but this is all
about it!

Very often in such books Perl's context dependencies are used
strongly. As mentioned in a previous post before, Ruby has not such
dependencies (at least not very much). So if you take a typical Perl
script and re-write it in Ruby, it could looks very similar but a
little bit clumsy, IMHO. This is because Ruby has to code Perl's
dependencies explicitly.

You could take Perl's code as an example and then re-think and re-write 
the whole in Ruby. But not to let it looks like Perl, but to use all 
advantages of Ruby.

IMO, re-write examples of a book about Python would be a better choice
for you. Python is, IMHO, much closer to Ruby than Perl.

> Another idea may be even better is to redo the Perl program in the book 
> 'Object-Oriented Perl' in Ruby language.

*This* could be a good idea, IMHO. I also do not know this book, but
because in a Perl OO program, the main focus should lay on OO and not
on Perl's context tricks. So perhaps this would be a better idea. You
would solve OO problems, and Ruby *is* OO. Here, IMO, you could
discover all the strengths and power of Ruby. And let Perl looks
clumsy ;-)))

> At least, I'll have some practical exercises to practice Ruby rather than 
> starring at the Ruby manual and wonder what & where those instructions are 
> applicable.

Hmm! This gives me the expression, that you have not all too much
experience with HL programming, do you! Knowing Perl and Python, I had
no difficulties to grasp Ruby's all-world features, only the Ruby's own
ones. 

But having not too much experience is not necessarily a bad thing,
IMHO. You would not be polluted by the other P-languages (P stands
here for primitive ;-) Only you should show your programs then, to
give others possibility to correct you, if you have done things too
un-Ruby-ish.

> Any advice is very much appreciated.
> Dat

\cle

-- 
Clemens Hintze  mailto: [e-mail]