New to Ruby and Programming

ruby-talk
1

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

I have lurked for a little bit to see what this list is like. I am
please to see how helpful people are. I have a couple of questions
for someone starting out with Ruby and Programming in general.

Some background... I have some fundamental understanding of
programming, but I have more holes in my foundation than not. I work
with some friends on a C# project, I learned some basics of Java so I
kind of understand OOP. But I still do not grasp a lot.

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

Also, I have a project in mind to use Ruby... A Nethack bot. A friend
programmed one in C# and I thought it would be fun to try and use
Ruby. I know I have a long way to go but it would be fun for me.

Anyway, thanks for any advice and help you can offer in this new adventure.

Will

···

--
Will Shattuck ( willshattuck.at.gmail.com )
Home Page: http://www.thewholeclan.com/will

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.

2

Chris Pine's "Learn to Program" is available now from Pragmatic Programmers. I'd start there.

Will Shattuck wrote:

···

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

I have lurked for a little bit to see what this list is like. I am
please to see how helpful people are. I have a couple of questions
for someone starting out with Ruby and Programming in general.

Some background... I have some fundamental understanding of
programming, but I have more holes in my foundation than not. I work
with some friends on a C# project, I learned some basics of Java so I
kind of understand OOP. But I still do not grasp a lot.

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

Also, I have a project in mind to use Ruby... A Nethack bot. A friend
programmed one in C# and I thought it would be fun to try and use
Ruby. I know I have a long way to go but it would be fun for me.

Anyway, thanks for any advice and help you can offer in this new adventure.

Will

--
Will Shattuck ( willshattuck.at.gmail.com )
Home Page: http://www.thewholeclan.com/will

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.

--
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky

http://linuxcapacityplanning.com

3

Can you list and describe the programs you've developed in the past? Were they school related or side projects for fun or for profit?

~ ryan ~

···

On Jan 2, 2006, at 12:24 AM, Will Shattuck wrote:

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

I have lurked for a little bit to see what this list is like. I am
please to see how helpful people are. I have a couple of questions
for someone starting out with Ruby and Programming in general.

Some background... I have some fundamental understanding of
programming, but I have more holes in my foundation than not. I work
with some friends on a C# project, I learned some basics of Java so I
kind of understand OOP. But I still do not grasp a lot.

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

Also, I have a project in mind to use Ruby... A Nethack bot. A friend
programmed one in C# and I thought it would be fun to try and use
Ruby. I know I have a long way to go but it would be fun for me.

Anyway, thanks for any advice and help you can offer in this new adventure.

Will

--
Will Shattuck ( willshattuck.at.gmail.com )
Home Page: http://www.thewholeclan.com/will

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.

4

Will Shattuck wrote:

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

I have lurked for a little bit to see what this list is like. I am
please to see how helpful people are. I have a couple of questions
for someone starting out with Ruby and Programming in general.

Some background... I have some fundamental understanding of
programming, but I have more holes in my foundation than not. I work
with some friends on a C# project, I learned some basics of Java so I
kind of understand OOP. But I still do not grasp a lot.

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

Try here:

Many resources to get you going. And browse around ruby-doc.org in general.

James Britt

···

--

http://www.ruby-doc.org - Ruby Help & Documentation
Ruby Code & Style - Ruby Code & Style: Writers wanted
http://www.rubystuff.com - The Ruby Store for Ruby Stuff
http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys
http://www.30secondrule.com - Building Better Tools

5

Others have already given very good answers on how to learn Ruby.. but
if you want to learn the fundamentals of programming as a concept
(rather than any specific implementation of that..), I don't think
there's anything better than:
http://www.htdp.org/
..and
http://www2.info.ucl.ac.be/people/PVR/book.html
In theory the second book is only available in hardcover.. but the
Internet Archive still has the old free PDF version, from before it
went to press:

(The final version has corrections and improvements. If you can afford
it, I recommend it.)

···

On 1/2/06, Will Shattuck <willshattuck@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

I have lurked for a little bit to see what this list is like. I am
please to see how helpful people are. I have a couple of questions
for someone starting out with Ruby and Programming in general.

Some background... I have some fundamental understanding of
programming, but I have more holes in my foundation than not. I work
with some friends on a C# project, I learned some basics of Java so I
kind of understand OOP. But I still do not grasp a lot.

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

Also, I have a project in mind to use Ruby... A Nethack bot. A friend
programmed one in C# and I thought it would be fun to try and use
Ruby. I know I have a long way to go but it would be fun for me.

Anyway, thanks for any advice and help you can offer in this new adventure.

6

Hi,

···

On Mon, Jan 02, 2006 at 02:24:48PM +0900, Will Shattuck wrote:

[...]
My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

    I think nobody else has actually said it, so: try TryRuby
(http://tryruby.hobix.com/\) :slight_smile:

    It's very cool and shows basic Ruby in an interactive, fun fashion.

--
Esteban Manchado Velázquez <zoso@foton.es> - http://www.foton.es
EuropeSwPatentFree - http://EuropeSwPatentFree.hispalinux.es

7

Hi folks. Happy New Year!

peace,

My question: Where should I start in learning to use Ruby? I have
some ideas, but I do not want to prejudice the discussion with my
ideas.

code little projects which fits your needs, thats imho the only way to
advance in programming (or in a specific lang).

Also, I have a project in mind to use Ruby... A Nethack bot. A friend
programmed one in C# and I thought it would be fun to try and use
Ruby. I know I have a long way to go but it would be fun for me.

code it.

loop do
  if your are ready, look at your code, look at your expierience and code it
  again if you dont like it .
end

So long

···

* Will Shattuck (willshattuck@gmail.com) wrote:
--
Michael 'entropie' Trommer; http://ackro.org

ruby -e "0.upto((a='njduspAhnbjm/dpn').size-1){|x| a-=1}; p 'mailto:'+a"

8

Hi everybody,

I follow this list for some time but due to the volume I might have missed it, if this was answered before...

I have another problem: I'm programming for some time (~20 years, if you count the good old BASIC days), I've studied CS, I've used C/C++ (a bit), Shell (some), Perl (some), PHP (some), Java (a lot) and a lot of other languages. I think I understand most of the ruby language but I fear I'm still using it in the wrong way. What I'm looking for, is a way to learn 'the ruby way'. I'm thinking something like:

- Problem
- This is how you would have done it in another language
- Nice Ruby Solution

I have the pickaxe and the ruby on rails book and I'm reading both at the moment. I looked through the sample chapter of 'The Ruby Way' but it seemed more like a cookbook to me.

bye
Frank

9

Well... that's just it. I haven't developed anything really. I have
done some web programming with PHP, but that has usually consisted of
modifying someone else's work. So basically nothing :frowning: That's why I
wanted to start with Ruby. I noticed that I can cut out many lines of
code by using Ruby so I figured it would be a good start.

Will

···

On 1/1/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryansobol@gmail.com> wrote:

Can you list and describe the programs you've developed in the past?
Were they school related or side projects for fun or for profit?

~ ryan ~

10

Others have already given very good answers on how to learn Ruby.. but
if you want to learn the fundamentals of programming as a concept
(rather than any specific implementation of that..), I don't think
there's anything better than:
http://www.htdp.org/

Seconded - this is an amazingly good book.

http://www2.info.ucl.ac.be/people/PVR/book.html

This one's excellent too, but pretty heavy going. I wouldn't recommend
it as a teach-yourself-programming book.

martin

···

Wilson Bilkovich <wilsonb@gmail.com> wrote:

11

Frank Spychalski wrote:

What I'm looking for, is a way to learn 'the ruby way'. I'm thinking something like:

- Problem
- This is how you would have done it in another language
- Nice Ruby Solution

I'm thinking the best way to do that is by posting examples (short, repeatable code snippets for us to chew on). In general, it's usually going to involve more functional constructs, and heavy use of blocks. :slight_smile: But that's not always the case. Usually, you'll get about Six Ruby Ways.

Devin

12

Hi --

Hi everybody,

I follow this list for some time but due to the volume I might have missed it, if this was answered before...

I have another problem: I'm programming for some time (~20 years, if you count the good old BASIC days), I've studied CS, I've used C/C++ (a bit), Shell (some), Perl (some), PHP (some), Java (a lot) and a lot of other languages. I think I understand most of the ruby language but I fear I'm still using it in the wrong way. What I'm looking for, is a way to learn 'the ruby way'. I'm thinking something like:

- Problem
- This is how you would have done it in another language
- Nice Ruby Solution

For me, part of the Ruby way is to skip the second of those three
steps :slight_smile: Of course it can be interesting to compare implementations;
but from what I've seen, I don't think writing the code in another
language first is very useful as a way of learning Ruby. I'd
recommend going straight from problem to Ruby, and then working on the
Ruby.

I have the pickaxe and the ruby on rails book and I'm reading both
at the moment. I looked through the sample chapter of 'The Ruby Way'
but it seemed more like a cookbook to me.

Don't let that stop you from reading it, though. You'll learn a lot.
And a new edition is coming out, later this year.

David

···

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006, Frank Spychalski wrote:

--
David A. Black
dblack@wobblini.net

"Ruby for Rails", from Manning Publications, coming April 2006!

13

Frank Spychalski wrote:

Hi everybody,

I follow this list for some time but due to the volume I might have
missed it, if this was answered before...

I have another problem: I'm programming for some time (~20 years, if you
count the good old BASIC days), I've studied CS, I've used C/C++ (a
bit), Shell (some), Perl (some), PHP (some), Java (a lot) and a lot of
other languages. I think I understand most of the ruby language but I
fear I'm still using it in the wrong way. What I'm looking for, is a way
to learn 'the ruby way'. I'm thinking something like:

- Problem
- This is how you would have done it in another language
- Nice Ruby Solution

I have the pickaxe and the ruby on rails book and I'm reading both at
the moment. I looked through the sample chapter of 'The Ruby Way' but it
seemed more like a cookbook to me.

bye
Frank

I'm also a java programmer who is learning Ruby. So far I installed the
one-click install version on my WinXP laptop, read the entire
"Programming Ruby" book included, and wrote one small app.

But I've gone back and refactored the app 3 times! And I have another
refactoring planned. The app has only two classes.

In my opinion, if you know how to do something in one way, make it work.
then go back and refactor over and over again, trying different Ruby
constructs, until you are comfortable with what you are doing.

Mike

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

14

Sounds like your at the cusp of a new and exciting thing, so I want to give you the best advice I can.

Here's the table of contents from the book "Learning To Program" that Ed Borasky suggested in a previous post. (http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/fr_ltp/\) Just by glancing at the chapter titles, which of them seem new, familiar, and old news to you in terms of your past programming experience?

1. Getting Started
2. Numbers
3. Letters
4. Variables and Assignment
5. Mixing It Up
6. More about Methods
7. Flow Control
8. Arrays and Iterators
9. Writing Your Own Methods
10. There's Nothing New to Learn in Chapter 10
11 Reading and Writing, Saving and Loading, Yin and...
12. New Classes of Objects
13. Creating New Classes, Changing Existing Ones
14. Blocks and Procs

~ ryan ~

···

On Jan 2, 2006, at 1:30 AM, Will Shattuck wrote:

On 1/1/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryansobol@gmail.com> wrote:

Can you list and describe the programs you've developed in the past?
Were they school related or side projects for fun or for profit?

~ ryan ~

Well... that's just it. I haven't developed anything really. I have
done some web programming with PHP, but that has usually consisted of
modifying someone else's work. So basically nothing :frowning: That's why I
wanted to start with Ruby. I noticed that I can cut out many lines of
code by using Ruby so I figured it would be a good start.

Will

15

At least you'll know if you're serious about it, after the first few
chapters. :slight_smile:

···

On 1/2/06, Martin DeMello <martindemello@yahoo.com> wrote:

Wilson Bilkovich <wilsonb@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Others have already given very good answers on how to learn Ruby.. but
> if you want to learn the fundamentals of programming as a concept
> (rather than any specific implementation of that..), I don't think
> there's anything better than:
> http://www.htdp.org/

Seconded - this is an amazingly good book.

> http://www2.info.ucl.ac.be/people/PVR/book.html

This one's excellent too, but pretty heavy going. I wouldn't recommend
it as a teach-yourself-programming book.

16

RevMike wrote:

In my opinion, if you know how to do something in one way, make it work. then go back and refactor over and over again, trying different Ruby constructs, until you are comfortable with what you are doing.

+1

17

Devin Mullins wrote:

I'm thinking the best way to do that is by posting examples (short, repeatable code snippets for us to chew on). In general, it's usually
going to involve more functional constructs, and heavy use of blocks. :slight_smile: But that's not always the case. Usually, you'll get about Six Ruby Ways.

The problem here is how to find the useful example. If I don't know that
something could be handled in a more elegant way, I don't know that this
could be a good example...

RevMike wrote:

But I've gone back and refactored the app 3 times! And I have another refactoring planned. The app has only two classes.

In my opinion, if you know how to do something in one way, make it work. then go back and refactor over and over again, trying different
Ruby constructs, until you are comfortable with what you are doing.

I think that's a pretty good tip. I'm working on a small Ruby on Rails
application and every time I add new code I refactor a large portion of
old code because nearly every day I find new and easier ways of
doing something in Ruby...

bye
Frank

18

Sounds like your at the cusp of a new and exciting thing, so I want
to give you the best advice I can.

Yep, I am about as crispy... er... cuspy as they come right now :slight_smile:

Here's the table of contents from the book "Learning To Program" that
Ed Borasky suggested in a previous post. (http://
www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/fr_ltp/) Just by glancing at the
chapter titles, which of them seem new, familiar, and old news to you
in terms of your past programming experience?

1. Getting Started

It seems I am always doing this with learning to program

2. Numbers
3. Letters

a..b..c..d..e..f..g.. yep I know my numbers and letters, but I am sure
I don't know what they mean in the Ruby Context.

4. Variables and Assignment

Creating and assigning values to variables I understand. I have done
it in my C# scripting for the mud engine I am helping to create. foo
= bar; etc etc ... Then I know how to test for (in)equality... foo ==
bar, foo != bar, foo < bar, etc etc

5. Mixing It Up

Not sure what they mean here...

6. More about Methods

This is probably where I get hung up the most with classes, methods,
instances, instantiation, encapsulation,etc

7. Flow Control

IF, ELSE, THEN, WHILE, etc. I understand the concepts, but will have
to learn The Ruby Way to make them work.

8. Arrays and Iterators

I touched on arrays in the "Head Start Java" book I was learning from,
but never got very far. Iterators are like " foo = foo +1" or " foo
+= foo " right?

9. Writing Your Own Methods

Methods that are inside classes? Again another place I have a very
basic concept of, but haven't done much with.

10. There's Nothing New to Learn in Chapter 10
11 Reading and Writing, Saving and Loading, Yin and...

File operations.. I did very little of it. I wanted to write a file
parser in PHP for game group for editing files, but didn't understand
the functions very much. I understand the concepts, but not the
application.

12. New Classes of Objects
13. Creating New Classes, Changing Existing Ones

Well I have learned to modify templates, variables, etc in previous
applications, but haven't created any new classes or objects on my
own.

14. Blocks and Procs

One word... huh? :wink:

~ ryan ~

Thanks for taking the time, Ryan, in helping me. I really appreciate
all the suggestions.

I'm looking at an older version of "Learn to Program" by Chris Pine
that I find in the links that James Britt sent. But I'm starting to
fall asleep now so I probably won't go very far right yet. heh

Will

···

On 1/1/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryansobol@gmail.com> wrote:

19

Seems like this book is a good match for you. And the price is right too: $20 for a paper back, $13 for the PDF version, or $25 for both.

Also, the "Pickaxe" book is pretty much the standard for learning Ruby. I'm not sure if its at the appropriate level for you, but the first edition is freely available online. http://www.rubycentral.com/book/

~ ryan ~

···

On Jan 2, 2006, at 1:47 AM, J. Ryan Sobol wrote:

Sounds like your at the cusp of a new and exciting thing, so I want to give you the best advice I can.

Here's the table of contents from the book "Learning To Program" that Ed Borasky suggested in a previous post. (http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/fr_ltp/\) Just by glancing at the chapter titles, which of them seem new, familiar, and old news to you in terms of your past programming experience?

1. Getting Started
2. Numbers
3. Letters
4. Variables and Assignment
5. Mixing It Up
6. More about Methods
7. Flow Control
8. Arrays and Iterators
9. Writing Your Own Methods
10. There's Nothing New to Learn in Chapter 10
11 Reading and Writing, Saving and Loading, Yin and...
12. New Classes of Objects
13. Creating New Classes, Changing Existing Ones
14. Blocks and Procs

~ ryan ~

On Jan 2, 2006, at 1:30 AM, Will Shattuck wrote:

On 1/1/06, J. Ryan Sobol <ryansobol@gmail.com> wrote:

Can you list and describe the programs you've developed in the past?
Were they school related or side projects for fun or for profit?

~ ryan ~

Well... that's just it. I haven't developed anything really. I have
done some web programming with PHP, but that has usually consisted of
modifying someone else's work. So basically nothing :frowning: That's why I
wanted to start with Ruby. I noticed that I can cut out many lines of
code by using Ruby so I figured it would be a good start.

Will

20

J. Ryan Sobol wrote:

Sounds like your at the cusp of a new and exciting thing, so I want to give you the best advice I can.

Here's the table of contents from the book "Learning To Program" that Ed Borasky suggested in a previous post. (http:// www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/fr_ltp/) Just by glancing at the chapter titles, which of them seem new, familiar, and old news to you in terms of your past programming experience?

<snip/>

Question: Is this teaching just the Ruby syntax for assorted constructs, or does it also include algorithm analysis and selection, speed/memory/resource considerations, application composition and design, and other programming concepts?

Put another way, what does "program" mean in the book title, and is it what Will means/expects when learning to program?

James

···

--

http://www.ruby-doc.org - Ruby Help & Documentation
Ruby Code & Style - Ruby Code & Style: Writers wanted
http://www.rubystuff.com - The Ruby Store for Ruby Stuff
http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys
http://www.30secondrule.com - Building Better Tools