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The Ruby Programming Language

The Ruby Programming Language
Details | Description | Customer Reviews
By: David Flanagan (Author), Yukihiro Matsumoto (Author)  (Paperback - 2008)
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» Paperback: (448 pages)
» Publisher:  O'Reilly Media (February 04, 2008)
» ISBN: 0596516177
» Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
» Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,915 in Books
» Average Customer Review: 
     
 
 
Book Description

The Ruby Programming Language is the authoritative guide to Ruby and provides comprehensive coverage of versions 1.8 and 1.9 of the language. It was written (and illustrated!) by an all-star team:

  • David Flanagan, bestselling author of programming language "bibles" (including JavaScript: The Definitive Guide and Java in a Nutshell) and committer to the Ruby Subversion repository.


  • Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto, creator, designer and lead developer of Ruby and author of Ruby in a Nutshell, which has been expanded and revised to become this book.


  • why the lucky stiff, artist and Ruby programmer extraordinaire.
This book begins with a quick-start tutorial to the language, and then explains the language in detail from the bottom up: from lexical and syntactic structure to datatypes to expressions and statements and on through methods, blocks, lambdas, closures, classes and modules.

The book also includes a long and thorough introduction to the rich API of the Ruby platform, demonstrating -- with heavily-commented example code -- Ruby's facilities for text processing, numeric manipulation, collections, input/output, networking, and concurrency. An entire chapter is devoted to Ruby's metaprogramming capabilities.

The Ruby Programming Language documents the Ruby language definitively but without the formality of a language specification. It is written for experienced programmers who are new to Ruby, and for current Ruby programmers who want to challenge their understanding and increase their mastery of the language.



Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (72 customer reviews)
72 Reviews
5 star:
 (58)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 

128 of 133 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This is the new authoritative Ruby book and the one to buy., February 26, 2008
This review is from: The Ruby Programming Language (Paperback)
Originally planned as a second edition to Ruby classic, Ruby In A Nutshell, The Ruby Programming Language is a new book by David Flanagan and Yukihiro Matsumoto (a.k.a. Matz - creator of Ruby) and published by O'Reilly. The book covers both Ruby 1.8 and 1.9 and with its esteemed authors and technical approach, is sure to become a new "Bible" for Ruby developers.

As of the start of 2008 this book is REALLY fresh and up to date. Its style is very direct and matter-of-fact; well suited for existing Ruby developers and proficient developers coming from other languages. The examples are clear and logical and the explanations concise; this is a well edited and authoritative book.

The structure of the book is a delight with ten well-defined chapters (with titles such as Reflection and Metaprogramming, Statements and Control Structures, and Expressions and Operators) that each contain a tree of sections. Consider Chapter 4, Expressions and Operators. A sample dive down... Read more
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars In my top 10 of all time..., October 26, 2008
By 
This review is from: The Ruby Programming Language (Paperback)
This book is quite simply one of the finest software development books ever written. The style, the length, the scope, and the structure are all absolutely perfect. The balance creates a reading experience that seemingly opens a channel to your brain and feeds the information in.

Flanagan is a master author of technical books, especially languages. His JavaScript book is equally well done. Matsumoto's unique technical mastery here leaves no stone unturned. And even the artwork by "why the lucky stiff" added a fun element that just rounded out the book as the best in its class.

If I could forget the whole thing, just so I could read it again, I would. It is that good.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect For Experienced Ruby Developers, March 7, 2008
By 
Dan McKinnon (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: The Ruby Programming Language (Paperback)
'The Ruby Programming Language' is one of 'those' O'Reilly books that become staples in the family of GREAT texts that have come before. At 400+ pages, the following content is discussed:

01. Intro
02. Structure of Ruby Programs
03. Datatypes & Objects
04. Expressions & Operators
05. Statements & Control Structures
06. Methods, Procs, Lambdas, Closures
07. Classes & Modules
08. Reflection & Metaprogramming
09. Ruby Platform
10. Ruby Environment

Logically laid out, wonderful writing, clear and concise examples with a length that is 'just right' (this is so hard to not find bloated books) this is perfect for those that know some Ruby and/or programming in general. If you are new to software development, this book probably is NOT for you as it's not a "learning" text. There are other Ruby books that cover said topic though so make sure to pick those up as well.

Awesome job O'Reilly for this relatively new... Read more
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