From: flebber Date: 2011-02-01T19:25:28+09:00 Subject: Re: 2011: Which Ruby books have you read? And which would you recommend? On Feb 1, 7:13 pm, Fabio Cevasco wrote: > 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=0321603508 > -- Design Patterns in Ruby --http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321490452 > > 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* > **» email: h3r...@h3rald.com >  » web site:www.H3RALD.com > > On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 1:26 AM, serialhex wrote: > > +1http://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 it > > 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 flipping > > pages.  linkage:http://pragprog.com/titles/ruby3/programming-ruby-1-9 > > > i rather like the > > ruby cookbook by o'reillyhttp://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596523695.  it's > > helped me learn a number of things that some people just *assume* you know. > >  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 those > > 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 as > > > > 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 if > > > > 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/ > > This question asked many many times over. check the old threads