Sams Teach Yourself Ruby in 21 Days

By Mark Slagell

Ruby is a high-level, fully object-oriented programming (OOP) language. It is very powerful and relatively easy to learn, read, and maintain. Sams Teach Yourself Ruby in 21 Days provides the best... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672322528
• ISBN13: 9780672322525
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Sams Publishing
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book

This book makes it easy to understand difficult topics in Ruby. I loved the way the authors gradually built up from a simple example and illustrated the complicated concepts. Reminds me of my favorite Electronics teacher in college. Beginners must read this book.

I can't believe I a 21 Days book is this good!

I have read other books from the 21 days series some time ago and was far from impressed. But since introduction books for Ruby are limited, I reluctantly decided to give this one a try. I am happy to say I have no regrets about reading it. I am actually surprised how much I learned from it. This book really serves well anyone who is not familar with Object Oriented programming. The author has presented the chapters in good order and provides clear explanations and example code. The only problem I have with the book is the high number of typos.

The best ruby intro book for most (but not all) developers

As of mid '05, this book is a little dated and is a couple of versions behind the current (1.8.2) release of ruby. Regardless, it still covers all of the necessary basics and in a very reader friendly order. The book is said to be written assuming no prior programming experience - however such a book as this is not really an introduction to programming. It does serve as a great introduction for just about anyone with some experience with just about any recent language - such as java, vb, vb.net or c#, and especially perl or python. The writing is clear and applies well towards learning. At times it may go a little too slow for the developer with experience behind them; however they should be able to read the entire book with its exercises in much less than a week with no problems; and be fairly productive in ruby at the end. Like most beginners books, you'll want to follow up with a more thorough book like the Dave Thomas' pickaxe or The Ruby Way - but this is more than enough to get someone started. Just keep in mind that you are only going to learn the basics - if you have several years of practice behind you, especially if you understand the difference between a dynamic language like ruby and static ones like java and c# - then you will be better off skipping this one and going with the pickaxe book (search for Dave Thomas). Otherwise this is a great intro.

Best Introduction for the New Programmer

I guess a lot of people come to Ruby with a knowledge of Perl or Java or C++ or some other language, and the other Ruby titles may be better suited for them. My own programming consisted of a smattering of Javascript and Actionscript. Consequently I appreciate this book's careful descriptions and clear and plentiful examples. The book moves fast, has a light tone, and lets the pleasure of Ruby come through. I recommend it, without reservation, as the entryway into Ruby.

great book about Ruby

Ruby is a very cool and powerful language. If you find yourself frustated with old an ugly languages like C or C++ or if you area Perl programmer who thinks that Perl is hard to read (and it is, most of the time) than you should learn Ruby. And this bookis a very good starting point. It assumes no Ruby experience and explains all the basic of the great programming language. I found no erros in the book and the author is really an expert.If you want to learn the more advenced features of Ruby considerbuying "The Ruby Way" and "Ruby Developers Guide" and "Programming Ruby: A Pragmatic Programmer's Guide"