Hello,
I got a question from someone who wants to learn Ruby but are not very
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.
Any pointers to where I can direct them? Do we have something like
"Thinking like a computer scientist" in Ruby? I know there is a Python
version.
Regards,
Robert Feldt
The 21 Days book is very good for beginners.
On Thursday, 22 January 2004 at 21:39:04 +0900, Robert Feldt wrote:
Hello,
I got a question from someone who wants to learn Ruby but are not very
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.Any pointers to where I can direct them? Do we have something like
“Thinking like a computer scientist” in Ruby? I know there is a Python
version.
Krogt, n. (chemical symbol: Kr):
The metallic silver coating found on fast-food game cards.
– Rich Hall, “Sniglets”
Robert Feldt wrote:
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.
http://www.visibleworkings.com/little-ruby/
Regards,
Erik.
“Robert Feldt” feldt@ce.chalmers.se skrev i en meddelelse
news:Pine.GSO.4.44.0401221336230.10291-100000@kovall.ce.chalmers.se…
Hello,
I got a question from someone who wants to learn Ruby but are not very
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.Any pointers to where I can direct them? Do we have something like
“Thinking like a computer scientist” in Ruby? I know there is a Python
version.
How abour Carreras tutorial?
http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/ruby/0.3/
Mikkel
Definitely “Teach yourself Ruby in 21 days” by Mark Slagell, Sams
Publishing. Despite its rather poor title, it’s an excellent book that
begins with the very basics and doesn’t require any previous knowledge
(i.e. it does explain what a variable is). The Pickaxe book was too
advanced for me also, but Mark’s book helped me greatly to get
started. It does get more advanced eventually, but not in a way that
leaves real beginners in the dust. I highly recommend it.
Hal’s “The Ruby Way” makes a good choice for the time after Mark’s
book, I’ve found. (I bought it long time before I felt ready for it,
but I was a bit afraid that it might go out of print before I pick up
the Ruby basics, so I imported it just to be on the safe side.)
M.
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 21:39:04 +0900, Robert Feldt feldt@ce.chalmers.se wrote:
I got a question from someone who wants to learn Ruby but are not very
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.
There’s also my humble tutorial:
http://hellotree.gotdns.com/LearnToProgram/
It might be too basic, though. I haven’t worked on it since my son was
born, but it is mostly completed. (I should really just finish it…)
One nice feature is that the web pages are generated from a Ruby script, and
all of the code samples I give are actually being run; the output being
captured! So the part with `rand’ gives you different numbers each time the
page is reloaded. 
Chris
Erik,
Robert Feldt wrote:
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.
Oh, how fun! I loved /The Little Lisper/. A bit flaky, but a fun couple of days’
reading. If it’s anything like the original, the Ruby one ought to be useful and
entertaining, too.
–
jason
:wq
This mail sent using ToadMail – Web based e-mail @ ToadNet
wow that’s cool and I did not know about it. But it seem stopped at
year 2001. Any further work ?
il Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:59:37 +0100, Erik Terpstra erik@solidcode.net ha scritto::
Robert Feldt wrote:
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.
Michael Vondung wrote:
I got a question from someone who wants to learn Ruby but are not very
experienced in programming at all. I pointed them to the Ruby Book (Thomas
and Hunt) but the person wanted something even more basic.Definitely “Teach yourself Ruby in 21 days” by Mark Slagell, Sams
Publishing. Despite its rather poor title, it’s an excellent book that
begins with the very basics and doesn’t require any previous knowledge
(i.e. it does explain what a variable is). The Pickaxe book was too
advanced for me also, but Mark’s book helped me greatly to get
started. It does get more advanced eventually, but not in a way that
leaves real beginners in the dust. I highly recommend it.
I will second that. Mark’s book is excellent.
The “21 days” books are of course a Sams series (explaining the poor
title). These are very inconsistent in quality. One of them which I
won’t name is suitable IMO only to line bird cages or start fires. Some
are better. This one is among the best. (FWIW I made a minor
contribution to the material myself.)
I will also say that even if you are a little more experienced than
Michael, this is still a good book. It won’t insult your intelligence
even if Ruby is your third or fourth language.
Hal’s “The Ruby Way” makes a good choice for the time after Mark’s
book, I’ve found. (I bought it long time before I felt ready for it,
but I was a bit afraid that it might go out of print before I pick up
the Ruby basics, so I imported it just to be on the safe side.)
Thank you for that purchase. 
It was designed almost as a reference
work. So you can’t really buy it “too early.” Many things in it are
very elementary. I added the disclaimer that it was not for beginners,
first of all, to avoid direct competition with the pickaxe. I wanted
to complement Dave and Andy’s book, not compete.
Second of all, I wanted to skip the most elementary discussions such as
“what is a variable?” I started in a little higher, with “what is an
object?”
BTW, in the front of the Pickaxe, I am quoted as saying, “This is the
first Ruby book anyone should buy.” And when I submitted that quote to
them, the book deal was in progress. So I was already thinking: “And
I already know what your SECOND Ruby book should be…” 
Cheers,
Hal
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 21:39:04 +0900, Robert Feldt > feldt@ce.chalmers.se wrote:
Chris Pine wrote:
There’s also my humble tutorial:
Blog - Mikula Beutl - SEO Consulting
It might be too basic, though. I haven’t worked on it since my son was
born, but it is mostly completed. (I should really just finish it…)
It is very basic and I like it that way! Very good work! I hope you do
find the time to finish it someday … If you need help, let me know!
One nice feature is that the web pages are generated from a Ruby script, and
all of the code samples I give are actually being run; the output being
captured! So the part with `rand’ gives you different numbers each time the
page is reloaded.
Is this script also available? Just asking, it sounds interesting…
Cheers,
Carsten.
I looked at your tutorial today.
It is basic, but written very well.
I like it.
On 23/01/04 15:53 +0900, Chris Pine wrote:
There’s also my humble tutorial:
Blog - Mikula Beutl - SEO Consulting
It might be too basic, though. I haven’t worked on it since my son was
born, but it is mostly completed. (I should really just finish it…)One nice feature is that the web pages are generated from a Ruby script, and
all of the code samples I give are actually being run; the output being
captured! So the part with `rand’ gives you different numbers each time the
page is reloaded.Chris
35570707f6274702478656021626f6c6964796f6e602f66602478656
02e6164796f6e60237471647560216e6460276c6f62616c60257e696
4797e2a0
Is this script also available? Just asking, it sounds interesting…
Of course it is! (It’s not the most gorgeous code, though.) Go to the
“About this tutorial” page… you’ll find a link there. In fact, if you go
to the bottom of the code, you’ll see the code to output the code itself.
Some browsers try to second-guess that I declare it as plain-text (some of
the time), so you might have to save it first and open it in a text editor.
Chris