From: Fabio Cevasco Date: 2011-02-01T17:13:12+09:00 Subject: Re: 2011: Which Ruby books have you read? And which would you recommend? --000e0cd2e724757172049b3415d2 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I read and reviewed many Addison-Wesley books on Ruby lately, and my favorites are: -- Refactoring, Ruby Edition -- http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=3D0321603508 -- Design Patterns in Ruby -- http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=3D0321490452 They do not provide a lot of reference materials like The Pickaxe or The Ruby Way, but they will teach you how to code in Ruby properly. Concerning free (and recent) books, check out: -- The Little Book of Ruby -- http://www.sapphiresteel.com/The-Little-Book-Of-Ruby -- The Book of Ruby -- http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Blog/The-Book-Of-Ruby-free-in-depth *Fabio Cevasco* **=C2=BB email: h3rald@h3rald.com =C2=BB web site: www.H3RALD.com On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 1:26 AM, serialhex wrote: > +1 http://rubybestpractices.com/ i'm really enjoying reading this book, > the > pdf is a permanent tab in chrome for me. I'm learning a lot from this > book! > > i have both the 2nd & 3rd editions of the pickaxe (rb 1.8 & 1.9 resp. > technically i also have access to the first - online for free) i love i= t > for the reference. i cant seem to get over needing a *physical* book to > turn pages on. and the fact that i can browse the std lib just by flippi= ng > pages. linkage: http://pragprog.com/titles/ruby3/programming-ruby-1-9 > > i rather like the > ruby cookbook by o'reilly http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596523695. it's > helped me learn a number of things that some people just *assume* you kno= w. > though i'm sure one can learn alot thats in this book by googling or > looking up source, having this much info at your fingertips is worth the > $50 > IMO. unfortunately it dosnt cover ruby 1.9 & if your an experienced > developer it probably wont be much help, but for someone just starting i = do > recommend it. > > recently i found a book called clever algorithms > http://www.cleveralgorithms.com/ and while it's more aimed toward people > dealing with optimization problems & A.I. all of the example code is > written > in ruby (not in a very ruby-ish way, but it's minimalist implementations = of > the algorithms). this book isn't necessarily for everybody, but for thos= e > interested in A.I. & such it's really cool. AND it's free (print version > ~$20). (this especially rocks cause i found it on my B-day - which was > saturday, and A.I. is my main field of interest, so a ruby book dealing > with > A.I. thats free on my B-day... who could pass that up??) > > lastly, the book that **REALLY** got me interested in ruby is why's > (poignant) guide to ruby ( http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ is > the > first archive i found, they're all over) and really helped me learn ruby > when i was first starting out. i highly recommend it to anybody who hasn= 't > read it just because it's a very interesting artistic work (if nothing > else) > and an interesting way to learn a programming language. i'd really like > more intro-to-this-language books like this. > > that's really it for me. next? > > hex > > > > On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 6:46 PM, James Nathan >wrote: > > > I have Beginning Ruby and Beginning Rails. but no training as a > programmers > > the real world do not want to help us with the questions about Ruby > > James > > > > --- On Mon, 1/31/11, Anurag Priyam wrote: > > > > From: Anurag Priyam > > Subject: Re: 2011: Which Ruby books have you read? And which would you > > recommend? > > To: "ruby-talk ML" > > Date: Monday, January 31, 2011, 1:24 PM > > > > > I know there are a lot of threads about books, but some of them are a= s > > > old as 2006 - and I think it would be nice to get a more up to date > list > > > of hot Ruby books, especially for anyone interested in learning the > > > latest version of Ruby, 1.9 (it's still ok to recommend older books i= f > > > you feel they are still relevant). > > > > Makes sense :). > > > > > I for one will be very eager to see which of the books you have read > you > > > have 'fallen in love with' - they're the ones I will most likely get > > > first :) > > > > I have read, and absolutely love "The Ruby Programming Language" by > > Flannagan and Matz, and "Ruby Best Practices" by Gregory Brown. While > > the former serves as a fantastic reference, the later deals with Ruby > > programming practices in real projects and picking up a lot or Ruby > > idioms. > > > > Another interesting book that I had a chance to lay my hands on was > > "Practical Ruby Projects" by Topher Cyll. I found it more fun than > > practical; even the author sub-titles it "ideas for the eclectic > > programmer". It deals with things like: generating SVG animations, > > implementing Lisp in Ruby (loved this chapter), creating music with > > MIDI, Mac OS X GUI, Genetic Algorithms. Would suggest reading it in > > leisure time, or at an intermediate level. > > > > Hal Fulton's "The Ruby Way" is another book that I have read. It was > > the first Ruby book that I bought as The Pickaxe was way expensive in > > India back then. I was able to learn a good deal from it as a > > beginner. I would not recommend it though (not even to a beginner) as > > you can learn the same thing (without paying for the book) from the > > Ruby documentation, or Google. For the same reasons, I think it has > > lost much of its significance now. > > > > I have done some light reading on "Enterprise Integration with Ruby", > > and "Practical Ruby for System Administration". They contain some > > decent examples, but have a very beginner-ish and closed feeling to > > it. I don't think that they don't teach you anything concrete, rather > > gives you the answer to some closed form problems that you could have > > come up with (think, google, think, implement) with any way. > > > > Some books that have got good reviews, and I am looking forward to > > read (waiting for cheaper Indian reprint to come out :)) are "Design > > Patterns in Ruby", and "Refactoring - Ruby Edition". I think these > > books are relevant as they teach you something concrete - patterns, > > styles, and practices that you can apply, and reapply to different > > problems later. Would refrain from commenting more as I have not > > actually read them. > > > > tl;dr - Learn Ruby by reading "The Ruby Programming Language" while > > get better at it by writing, and reading a lot of code (FOSS, fun > > projects, rewriting class room assignments in Ruby). And yeah, "Ruby > > Best Practices is excellent, and free (I love advertising it :)). > > > > -- > > Anurag Priyam > > http://about.me/yeban/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > --000e0cd2e724757172049b3415d2--