# Documenting Networking in Ruby. Any volunteer

**URL:** <https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133>\
**Category:** ruby-talk\
**Created:** [13 June 2008 19:39 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133 "2008-06-13T19:39:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Victor\_Reyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@Victor\_Reyes](https://rubytalk.org/u/Victor_Reyes)\
**Post date:** [13 June 2008 19:39 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/1 "2008-06-13T19:39:13Z")

</div>

Team,

Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?

As I continue learning and struggling on my journey to become a Rubyst (is  
it Rubist?), I noticed that my suffering could be lessen if I could put my  
hands on a good Ruby book exclusively dedicated to networking.  
Something like "Networking in Ruby" or "Ruby in a Networked World" or  
something to that effect. That book would collect all the current knowledge  
in network programming, as it relates to Ruby:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. Sockets - This would describe all type of socket programming.  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. HTTP with all its variations.  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3. Threads as it relates to Inter-Process Communications.  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4. NET  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5. SSL  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6. SSH  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7. FTP  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8. EventMachine  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9. GServer  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;10. DB (DB2, Oracle, PostGres, MySql) communications.  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11. ...and everything else I missed here, which I bet is more than what I  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;listed here!

To be successful and useful the book must go beyond what's covered on RDoc.  
It should have myriads of examples for people that learn by example, like I.  
The book should also cover the major platforms \*NIX, Mac, Wintel.  
It should also cover networking on small devices such as cell phones, etc. I  
think all the info is already loosely available and it is just matter of  
putting things together.

I might be asking for too much!

Any comments!

Thanks you

Victor

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Phil](https://rubytalk.org/u/Phil)\
**Post date:** [13 June 2008 19:56 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/2 "2008-06-13T19:56:22Z")

</div>

Victor Reyes wrote:

> To be successful and useful the book must go beyond what's covered on

RDoc.

> It should have myriads of examples for people that learn by example,

like I.

> The book should also cover the major platforms \*NIX, Mac, Wintel.  
> It should also cover networking on small devices such as cell phones,

etc. I

> think all the info is already loosely available and it is just matter of  
> putting things together.

Have you looked at The Ruby Way by Hal Fulton? While it doesn't cover  
networking exclusively, it does cover a big part of it, and loads of  
other Ruby-related stuff (you should buy it anyway ;).

- --  
Phillip Gawlowski  
Twitter: twitter.com/cynicalryan  
Blog: [http://justarubyist.blogspot.com](http://justarubyist.blogspot.com)

~ - You know you've been hacking too long when...  
...you want to retract something said in haste, and think C-a C-@ C-e C-w

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oscar\_Del\_Ben1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/839c29/32.png) [@Oscar\_Del\_Ben1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Oscar_Del_Ben1)\
**Post date:** [13 June 2008 20:38 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/3 "2008-06-13T20:38:55Z")

</div>

Well, it's not possible to cover all what you are looking for in one book.  
Probably one for each section should do the job.

> **···**
>
> 2008/6/13, Victor Reyes \<victor.reyes@gmail.com\>:
> 
> > Team,
> > 
> > Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?
> > 
> > As I continue learning and struggling on my journey to become a Rubyst (is  
> > it Rubist?), I noticed that my suffering could be lessen if I could put my  
> > hands on a good Ruby book exclusively dedicated to networking.  
> > Something like "Networking in Ruby" or "Ruby in a Networked World" or  
> > something to that effect. That book would collect all the current knowledge  
> > in network programming, as it relates to Ruby:
> > 
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. Sockets - This would describe all type of socket programming.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. HTTP with all its variations.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3. Threads as it relates to Inter-Process Communications.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4. NET  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5. SSL  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6. SSH  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7. FTP  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;8. EventMachine  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9. GServer  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;10. DB (DB2, Oracle, PostGres, MySql) communications.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11. ...and everything else I missed here, which I bet is more than what  
> > I  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;listed here!
> > 
> > To be successful and useful the book must go beyond what's covered on RDoc.  
> > It should have myriads of examples for people that learn by example, like  
> > I.  
> > The book should also cover the major platforms \*NIX, Mac, Wintel.  
> > It should also cover networking on small devices such as cell phones, etc.  
> > I  
> > think all the info is already loosely available and it is just matter of  
> > putting things together.
> > 
> > I might be asking for too much!
> > 
> > Any comments!
> > 
> > Thanks you
> > 
> > Victor

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eleanor\_McHugh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8c91f0/32.png) [@Eleanor\_McHugh](https://rubytalk.org/u/Eleanor_McHugh)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2008 02:36 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/4 "2008-06-14T02:36:06Z")

</div>

Not yet, although you can piece bits and bobs together from The Ruby Way, the Pickaxe and a few other sources. Most of the time I rely on google but even there documentation and tutorials are less comprehensive than a beginner would need which is a great pity, all things considered.

Ellie

Eleanor McHugh  
Games With Brains  
[http://slides.games-with-brains.net](http://slides.games-with-brains.net)

> **···**
>
> On 13 Jun 2008, at 20:39, Victor Reyes wrote:
> 
> > Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?
> 
> ----  
> raise ArgumentError unless @reality.responds\_to? :reason

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Michael\_Guterl1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Michael\_Guterl1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Michael_Guterl1)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2008 13:18 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/5 "2008-06-16T13:18:51Z")

</div>

You might want to check out the Ruby Cookbook. While it doesn't cover  
everything you mentioned, it does provide great examples for the areas it  
does cover.

Michael Guterl

> **···**
>
> On Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 3:39 PM, Victor Reyes \<victor.reyes@gmail.com\> wrote:
> 
> > Team,
> > 
> > Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?
> > 
> > As I continue learning and struggling on my journey to become a Rubyst (is  
> > it Rubist?), I noticed that my suffering could be lessen if I could put my  
> > hands on a good Ruby book exclusively dedicated to networking.  
> > Something like "Networking in Ruby" or "Ruby in a Networked World" or  
> > something to that effect. That book would collect all the current knowledge  
> > in network programming, as it relates to Ruby:
> > 
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;1. Sockets - This would describe all type of socket programming.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;2. HTTP with all its variations.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;3. Threads as it relates to Inter-Process Communications.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;4. NET  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;5. SSL  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;6. SSH  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;7. FTP  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;8. EventMachine  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;9. GServer  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;10. DB (DB2, Oracle, PostGres, MySql) communications.  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;11. ...and everything else I missed here, which I bet is more than what I  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;listed here!
> > 
> > To be successful and useful the book must go beyond what's covered on RDoc.  
> > It should have myriads of examples for people that learn by example, like  
> > I.  
> > The book should also cover the major platforms \*NIX, Mac, Wintel.  
> > It should also cover networking on small devices such as cell phones, etc.  
> > I  
> > think all the info is already loosely available and it is just matter of  
> > putting things together.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Victor\_Reyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@Victor\_Reyes](https://rubytalk.org/u/Victor_Reyes)\
**Post date:** [15 June 2008 11:50 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/6 "2008-06-15T11:50:02Z")

</div>

\* Phillip Gawlowski\*: I actually have 1rst and 2nd Editions of The Ruby Way.  
I also have Programming Ruby, Ruby in nutshell, the new book by Matz and  
Flannagan, and at least another dozen Ruby books.  
None of these books go beyond briefly proving the same basic examples of TCP  
Client/Server and UDP, and some a bit of Socket programming. I heard of  
GServer from a book I just purchase from a British guy (Sorry forgot the  
name and I don't have the book with me) which I think is entitle Beginner  
Ruby.

\*Oscar Del Ben\*: Well, I know it is a large subject, however, if you take  
for example the length of The Ruby Way or Programming Ruby or the new Matz  
book, Etc., a book of that size dedicated to the subjects I mentioned above  
I think would make it a hit. Think about it, a one stop shop for all your  
networking needs, in Ruby of course!

\* Eleanor McHugh\*: This is what I am talking about. There is no real  
documentation even on the web. I, a beginner, rely on my books (which fall  
short) and on the Ruby Q/A Forum. You answered some of my questions before  
about GServer.

In addition to network programming, you look around and will find the same  
issues with a different subject: GUI Programming in Ruby.  
If you \*wc -w\* the number of times the word GUI appears on this forum you  
can easily conclude that the subject is controversial and not well  
organized. You have tons of GUI tools out there for Ruby but we don't know  
how to or where to find it. Once you find, then the problem is  
documentation.

I think there is a vacuum for a:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. An excellent Networking Ruby book.  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. An excellent Ruby GUI Programming book.

Seriously team, there are lots of people like me that learn by example. The  
only time I go to the forum is when I tried everything else (my extensive  
ruby library, google, Etc.).

Oh well, I guess I am dreaming, but this does not have to be a project for  
one person. By reading the posts on this forum and have observed very clever  
people who can not just write code, but they can also explain it. With  
permissions of the different forum collaborators, one can get examples from  
the forum, clean them and test them and publish a nice book. Examples in the  
book would acknowledge the forum collaborator(s) of such example(s).

Best regards,

Victor

> **···**
>
> On Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 10:36 PM, Eleanor McHugh \< eleanor@games-with-brains.com\> wrote:
> 
> > On 13 Jun 2008, at 20:39, Victor Reyes wrote:
> > 
> > > Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?
> > 
> > Not yet, although you can piece bits and bobs together from The Ruby Way,  
> > the Pickaxe and a few other sources. Most of the time I rely on google but  
> > even there documentation and tutorials are less comprehensive than a  
> > beginner would need which is a great pity, all things considered.
> > 
> > Ellie
> > 
> > Eleanor McHugh  
> > Games With Brains  
> > [http://slides.games-with-brains.net](http://slides.games-with-brains.net)  
> > ----  
> > raise ArgumentError unless @reality.responds\_to? :reason

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Victor\_Reyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@Victor\_Reyes](https://rubytalk.org/u/Victor_Reyes)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2008 14:50 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/7 "2008-06-16T14:50:34Z")

</div>

Michael,

You are correct. The book is large, but it only covers a minute number of  
the items I mentioned. But it makes a reasonable reference.  
Ruby Cookbook  
By: Lucas Carlson & Leonard Richardson  
Which has 23 chapters and around 823 pages.

I browsed the book on the web at:

> **[Ruby Cookbook](https://books.google.com/books?id=ANP-fUv3WTYC&dq=%22ruby%2Bcookbook%22&pg=PP1&ots=FSKydVMJvS&sig=7bmMXKRHnNQRlexm-Srsll-z-TY&hl=en&prev=http:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522Ruby%2BCookbook%2522%26btnG%3DSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title)**
>
> Do you want to push Ruby to its limits? The Ruby Cookbook is the most comprehensive problem-solving guide to today's hottest programming language. It gives you hundreds of solutions to real-world problems, with clear explanations and thousands of...

I just purchased the new book by Flannagan and Matz for reference. It is  
actually a very nice book, which, of course is for documenting the Ruby  
language. Therefore you will not find networking there.

Thank you for the recommendation.

Victor

> **···**
>
> On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 9:18 AM, Michael Guterl \<mguterl@gmail.com\> wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 3:39 PM, Victor Reyes \<victor.reyes@gmail.com\> \> wrote:
> > 
> > \> Team,  
> > \>  
> > \> Is there a good book exclusively devoted to Networking in Ruby?  
> > \>  
> > \> As I continue learning and struggling on my journey to become a Rubyst  
> > (is  
> > \> it Rubist?), I noticed that my suffering could be lessen if I could put  
> > my  
> > \> hands on a good Ruby book exclusively dedicated to networking.  
> > \> Something like "Networking in Ruby" or "Ruby in a Networked World" or  
> > \> something to that effect. That book would collect all the current  
> > knowledge  
> > \> in network programming, as it relates to Ruby:  
> > \>  
> > \>  
> > \> 1. Sockets - This would describe all type of socket programming.  
> > \> 2. HTTP with all its variations.  
> > \> 3. Threads as it relates to Inter-Process Communications.  
> > \> 4. NET  
> > \> 5. SSL  
> > \> 6. SSH  
> > \> 7. FTP  
> > \> 8. EventMachine  
> > \> 9. GServer  
> > \> 10. DB (DB2, Oracle, PostGres, MySql) communications.  
> > \> 11. ...and everything else I missed here, which I bet is more than what  
> > I  
> > \> listed here!  
> > \>  
> > \>  
> > \> To be successful and useful the book must go beyond what's covered on  
> > RDoc.  
> > \> It should have myriads of examples for people that learn by example, like  
> > \> I.  
> > \> The book should also cover the major platforms \*NIX, Mac, Wintel.  
> > \> It should also cover networking on small devices such as cell phones,  
> > etc.  
> > \> I  
> > \> think all the info is already loosely available and it is just matter of  
> > \> putting things together.  
> > \>
> > 
> > You might want to check out the Ruby Cookbook. While it doesn't cover  
> > everything you mentioned, it does provide great examples for the areas it  
> > does cover.
> > 
> > Michael Guterl

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eleanor\_McHugh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8c91f0/32.png) [@Eleanor\_McHugh](https://rubytalk.org/u/Eleanor_McHugh)\
**Post date:** [15 June 2008 15:26 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/8 "2008-06-15T15:26:16Z")

</div>

Probably quite inaccurately as I've pieced together all of my knowledge about Ruby networking from direct experimentation, the few tutorials on the web and reading the source code. The fact that I've written network code in other languages made this fairly easy for me, but I dread to think how a beginner coming to Ruby without that background would make any headway.

At some point I will write up my research in detail and publishing it online, but time is the one resource I never seem to have enough of...

Ellie

Eleanor McHugh  
Games With Brains  
[http://slides.games-with-brains.net](http://slides.games-with-brains.net)

> **···**
>
> On 15 Jun 2008, at 12:50, Victor Reyes wrote:
> 
> > \* Eleanor McHugh\*: This is what I am talking about. There is no real  
> > documentation even on the web. I, a beginner, rely on my books (which fall  
> > short) and on the Ruby Q/A Forum. You answered some of my questions before  
> > about GServer.
> 
> ----  
> raise ArgumentError unless @reality.responds\_to? :reason

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Amr\_Kamel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amr\_Kamel](https://rubytalk.org/u/Amr_Kamel)\
**Post date:** [22 July 2008 08:55 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/9 "2008-07-22T08:55:18Z")

</div>

Victor Reyes wrote:

> **···**
>
> > On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 9:18 AM, Michael Guterl \<mguterl@gmail.com\> \> wrote:
> > 
> > > my  
> > > \> 4. NET  
> > > \>  
> > > \>
> > > 
> > > You might want to check out the Ruby Cookbook. While it doesn't cover  
> > > everything you mentioned, it does provide great examples for the areas it  
> > > does cover.
> > > 
> > > Michael Guterl
> > 
> > Michael,
> > 
> > You are correct. The book is large, but it only covers a minute number  
> > of  
> > the items I mentioned. But it makes a reasonable reference.  
> > Ruby Cookbook  
> > By: Lucas Carlson & Leonard Richardson  
> > Which has 23 chapters and around 823 pages.
> > 
> > I browsed the book on the web at:  
> > [Ruby Cookbook - Lucas Carlson, Leonard Richardson - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=ANP-fUv3WTYC&dq=%22ruby+cookbook%22&pg=PP1&ots=FSKydVMJvS&sig=7bmMXKRHnNQRlexm-Srsll-z-TY&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522Ruby%2BCookbook%2522%26btnG%3DSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPR17,M1)
> > 
> > I just purchased the new book by Flannagan and Matz for reference. It is  
> > actually a very nice book, which, of course is for documenting the Ruby  
> > language. Therefore you will not find networking there.
> > 
> > Thank you for the recommendation.
> > 
> > Victor
> 
> @Victor Reyes,
> 
> May be we can start a book on wikibooks see  
> ([http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main\_Page\](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page%5C)) if you like the idea we can  
> start instantly. You can contact me on amrkamel (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Amr M. Kamel.
> 
> --  
> Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Victor\_Reyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@Victor\_Reyes](https://rubytalk.org/u/Victor_Reyes)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2008 12:58 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/documenting-networking-in-ruby-any-volunteer/47133/10 "2008-06-16T12:58:58Z")

</div>

Actually, your code works fine, at least for what I needed it for.  
I'll be looking forward to reading and learning from your publication, when  
it comes out!

Thank you and everyone for the help and support you guys provide daily.

Victor

> **···**
>
> On Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 11:26 AM, Eleanor McHugh \< eleanor@games-with-brains.com\> wrote:
> 
> > On 15 Jun 2008, at 12:50, Victor Reyes wrote:
> > 
> > > \* Eleanor McHugh\*: This is what I am talking about. There is no real  
> > > documentation even on the web. I, a beginner, rely on my books (which fall  
> > > short) and on the Ruby Q/A Forum. You answered some of my questions before  
> > > about GServer.
> > 
> > Probably quite inaccurately as I've pieced together all of my knowledge  
> > about Ruby networking from direct experimentation, the few tutorials on the  
> > web and reading the source code. The fact that I've written network code in  
> > other languages made this fairly easy for me, but I dread to think how a  
> > beginner coming to Ruby without that background would make any headway.
> > 
> > At some point I will write up my research in detail and publishing it  
> > online, but time is the one resource I never seem to have enough of...
> > 
> > Ellie
> > 
> > Eleanor McHugh  
> > Games With Brains  
> > [http://slides.games-with-brains.net](http://slides.games-with-brains.net)  
> > ----  
> > raise ArgumentError unless @reality.responds\_to? :reason
> > 
> > Ellie,
