Re: Ruby Book for People Who Aren't (Yet) Programmers

Okay, there have been a lot of good ideas here.  Now, I'll try to put it
all together.

1) IRB
======

There has been some discussion on whether we should use irb.  I think I
came up with a good idea:

Chapter 1:  Interactive Ruby
    Start uring irb right away.  Don't introduce /puts/ or writing files.
    Just use Ruby as a calculator.

Chapter 2:  Objects
    Essentially what I have now, but all done in irb and without /puts/.

Chapter 3:  Printing
    A small chapter to introduce /puts/.  Give examples such as:
    puts "#{num1} + #{num2} = #{num1 + #num2}"
    Also introduce the difference between 'return value' and
    'side effect'.

Chapter 4:  Flow Control
    Essentially what I have now.  Still using irb.

Chapter 5:  Putting it all together.
    Show the student how to put all this in a file and run it as a
    single program.  This is a good excuse for adding more excercises
    and examples to make the concepts of the previous chapters settle

2) Class vs type
================

I totally agree with saying 'class' instead of 'type'.  We can introduce
the 'Object#class' method so people can experiment.  Thanks for bringing
up this point.


3) Description of Objects
=========================

On the one hand we want to give a correct description of objects.  We want
to avoid a 'but you said...' later on.  On the other, we want to engage
the student early on and not make things too complicated.  Here is my
idea:

Chapter 2:  Objects
    This is what I currently have:

    1.  I define objects as units of data storage with a class and
        a value.
    2.  I go over the Fixnum's, Float's and String's and their methods.
    3.  Point out that methods are type-dependent.

    *After* I've done this, I could do this:

    Section:  Recap

    We have already learned some characteristics of objects:

      * Value:
          Most objects will contain data, such as numbers or
          text strings.  Later on we'll see objects with more
          complex data.

      * Methods:
          Objects define /methods/, which are ways that programs can
          interoperate with the object.  In a sense, the value
          'what object knows', and a method is something the object
          can do.  For instance the object 3 knows what comes after it,
          (the /next/ method).

      * Class:
          Objects always belong to a class, like /Fixnum/, /Float/ and
          /String/.  The class is what determines which methods are
          available, and what kind of data the object holds.  For
          instance, a /Fixnum/ always holds a whole number and it
          has a /next/ method.

    [I think that these briefer descriptions are enough because
     the students have already seen these in practice. ]

    In addition to this, objects have an ID which identifies the object
    uniquely to Ruby.

    [
     I like the idea of introducing the object ID, but only briefly.
     Having the ID lets me demonstrate the difference between 12 and
     "12" better.
     What do you think?

     Introduce Object#class, Object#id, Object#display and Object#methods.
      1.- Let the student play with these.
      2.- Illustrate the difference between objects and variables.
      3.- Use '.id' to illustrate the difference between 12 and "12".
          Use other methods to illustrate this difference.
    ]

   [Here we include Martin's diagram]

Questions:
   Perhaps this should be a separate chapter instead of a section?
   What should I call it?  How about "Exploring Ruby"?

4) Having a non-programmer handy
================================

I have a 14-year-old and a 13-year-old brother I can ask. :-)
I agree that we should work on the tutorial before we start showing it to
programmers-to-be.

5) Fixnum vs Integer
====================

Fixnum and Bignum are both subclasses of the class Integer.  So
technically we can use either term.

Question:  Should I use the term 'Fixnum' or 'Integer'?

Pro Integer: People already know what the word 'integer' means.
Pro Fixnum:  When you type '3.class' it says 'Fixnum'.

I think I'm partial towards Fixnum.


Cheers,
Daniel