From: "David A. Black" <dblack@...>
Date: 2007-10-30T07:42:40+09:00
Subject: Re: Good learning-by-doing projects?

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Hi --

On Tue, 30 Oct 2007, S=F8ren Andersen wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm fairly new to ruby coming from some Java.
> I've been reading "The pragmatic programmers guide", which is pretty good=
=2E
> But, I always find it's easier to learn the language using it, rather tha=
n
> just reading about it. (Naturally...)
>
> So - what are your favorite "learning-by-doing"-proejcts? Both
> ruby-specific, and generally?

My "rite of passage" program for new languages is usually the
word-game Jotto. (Somewhere I have my Ruby version of it....) I find
game-ish things to be quite good for language-learning purposes. Not
necessarily full-blown video games and such, but things like decks of
cards, anagrams, and checker board moves.

The main thing is to keep it all a bit fluid -- for instance, if
you're doing a checker board, try it with arrays and also with the
Matrix class. It can be a good excuse for exploring the language and
trying things out.


David

--=20
Upcoming training by David A. Black/Ruby Power and Light, LLC:
   * Advancing With Rails, Edison, NJ, November 6-9
   * Advancing With Rails, Berlin, Germany, November 19-22
   * Intro to Rails, London, UK, December 3-6 (by Skills Matter)
See http://www.rubypal.com for details!
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