dblack-TKXtfPMJ4Ozk1uMJSBkQmQ@public.gmane.org
2006-Apr-15 18:04 UTC
[ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi everyone -- Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning website. Manning has been having some website issues (they''ve been doing a whole huge migration), so please be patient as you step through the slightly rocky landscape :-) When you go to http://www.manning.com/black, you may be asked to click through to another site (secure.manning.com), which is their backup sales site during the transition. If so, just click through and there you''ll be. And please drop by the Author Online forum at http://www.manning-sandbox.com/forum.jspa?forumID=200! David P.S. There are two sample chapters available for free. They''re on the http://www.manning.com/black site (not yet on the other, I think), so check there first :-) -- David A. Black (dblack-TKXtfPMJ4Ozk1uMJSBkQmQ@public.gmane.org) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-15 18:04 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi everyone -- Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning website. Manning has been having some website issues (they''ve been doing a whole huge migration), so please be patient as you step through the slightly rocky landscape :-) When you go to http://www.manning.com/black, you may be asked to click through to another site (secure.manning.com), which is their backup sales site during the transition. If so, just click through and there you''ll be. And please drop by the Author Online forum at http://www.manning-sandbox.com/forum.jspa?forumID=200! David P.S. There are two sample chapters available for free. They''re on the http://www.manning.com/black site (not yet on the other, I think), so check there first :-) -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
jmcgrath@whoi.edu
2006-Apr-15 18:49 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
sweet, psyched to check it out. is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by people named ''David''? ;-)> Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 14:04:18 -0400 (EDT) > From: dblack@wobblini.net > Subject: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! > To: ruby-talk@ruby-lang.org > Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0604151356480.27420@rubypal.com> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > Hi everyone -- > > Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which > was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby > techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by > Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the > first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning > website. > > Manning has been having some website issues (they''ve been doing a > whole huge migration), so please be patient as you step through the > slightly rocky landscape :-) > > When you go to http://www.manning.com/black, you may be asked to click > through to another site (secure.manning.com), which is their backup > sales site during the transition. If so, just click through and there > you''ll be. > > And please drop by the Author Online forum at > http://www.manning-sandbox.com/forum.jspa?forumID=200! > > > David > > P.S. There are two sample chapters available for free. They''re on the > http://www.manning.com/black site (not yet on the other, I think), so > check there first :-) > > -- > David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) > Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) > > "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black > Paper version coming in early May!---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-15 19:49 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi -- On Sat, 15 Apr 2006, jmcgrath@whoi.edu wrote:> sweet, psyched to check it out. > > is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by people named > ''David''? ;-)Judging by the population of Canada on Rails, I''d say that there''s at least a quasi-law that everyone who *uses* RoR has to be named David :-) David -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
On 4/15/06, dblack@wobblini.net <dblack@wobblini.net> wrote:> Hi everyone -- > > Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which > was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby > techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by > Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the > first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning > website.David, Congratulations! I just wrote a review of the Beta/Early Access book programs of a number of publishers, Manning included. Yours was the example I used. I loved your book, and said so in the review. It should be published around mid-week. I''ll be doing a review of several Ruby books in the near future and yours will again be one of them (a review of the book rather than the beta program). I''ll be giving it very high marks then too. I really think that this might become the book I recommend to people just coming to Ruby. I''m not sure I can say enough good things about it.> > David >-- thanks, -pate -------------------------
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
2006-Apr-16 00:32 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
I''m sure Robby Russell will change his name to David real soon now. :) M. Edward (David) Borasky dblack@wobblini.net wrote:> Hi -- > > On Sat, 15 Apr 2006, jmcgrath@whoi.edu wrote: > >> sweet, psyched to check it out. >> >> is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by people >> named >> ''David''? ;-) > > Judging by the population of Canada on Rails, I''d say that there''s at > least a quasi-law that everyone who *uses* RoR has to be named David > :-) > > > David >-- M. Edward (Ed) Borasky http://linuxcapacityplanning.com
David Congratulations on a great book! I''ve been reading it over the last couple of weeks through the MEAP. I''ve been "playing" with Ruby since last summer when I first encountered Rails. Your book added more to my understanding of the Ruby language than any thing else I''ve read over the past 6 months. Todd Breiholz On 4/15/06, dblack@wobblini.net <dblack@wobblini.net> wrote:> Hi everyone -- > > Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which > was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby > techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by > Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the > first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning > website. > > Manning has been having some website issues (they''ve been doing a > whole huge migration), so please be patient as you step through the > slightly rocky landscape :-) > > When you go to http://www.manning.com/black, you may be asked to click > through to another site (secure.manning.com), which is their backup > sales site during the transition. If so, just click through and there > you''ll be. > > And please drop by the Author Online forum at > http://www.manning-sandbox.com/forum.jspa?forumID=200! > > > David > > P.S. There are two sample chapters available for free. They''re on the > http://www.manning.com/black site (not yet on the other, I think), so > check there first :-) > > -- > David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) > Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) > > "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black > Paper version coming in early May! > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >
I''m looking at the webpage and wondering if I''m missing something. There''s no "package" for both the PDF and print version together? The "Agile" book taught me that having both mediums is great - print for the first read through, PDF for the future searchability. I''m not too excited about paying $45 for the print copy then another $23 for the PDF ($68 total!). Is there something better? -Jeff Todd Breiholz wrote:>David > >Congratulations on a great book! I''ve been reading it over the last >couple of weeks through the MEAP. I''ve been "playing" with Ruby since >last summer when I first encountered Rails. Your book added more to my >understanding of the Ruby language than any thing else I''ve read over >the past 6 months. > >Todd Breiholz > > >
Jeff Casimir wrote:> I''m looking at the webpage and wondering if I''m missing something. > There''s no "package" for both the PDF and print version together? The > "Agile" book taught me that having both mediums is great - print for the > first read through, PDF for the future searchability. I''m not too > excited about paying $45 for the print copy then another $23 for the PDF > ($68 total!). > > Is there something better?The PDF is included when you buy the print version. Add it to your cart and you will see. -- Ray
No, *I''m* Spartacus... I mean David... On 16 Apr 2006, at 01:32, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:> I''m sure Robby Russell will change his name to David real soon now. :) > > M. Edward (David) Borasky > > dblack@wobblini.net wrote: >> Hi -- >> >> On Sat, 15 Apr 2006, jmcgrath@whoi.edu wrote: >> >>> sweet, psyched to check it out. >>> >>> is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by >>> people named >>> ''David''? ;-) >> >> Judging by the population of Canada on Rails, I''d say that there''s at >> least a quasi-law that everyone who *uses* RoR has to be named David >> :-) >> >> >> David >> > > -- > M. Edward (Ed) Borasky > > http://linuxcapacityplanning.com > > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
Nice one! Beginners need to know where ruby ends and rails begins. And questions like "Do I need to know ruby to use rails?" are bad news! beers -h On 4/16/06, Paul Robinson <paul@iconoplex.co.uk> wrote:> No, *I''m* Spartacus... I mean David... > > On 16 Apr 2006, at 01:32, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote: > > > I''m sure Robby Russell will change his name to David real soon now. :) > > > > M. Edward (David) Borasky > > > > dblack@wobblini.net wrote: > >> Hi -- > >> > >> On Sat, 15 Apr 2006, jmcgrath@whoi.edu wrote: > >> > >>> sweet, psyched to check it out. > >>> > >>> is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by > >>> people named > >>> ''David''? ;-) > >> > >> Judging by the population of Canada on Rails, I''d say that there''s at > >> least a quasi-law that everyone who *uses* RoR has to be named David > >> :-) > >> > >> > >> David > >> > > > > -- > > M. Edward (Ed) Borasky > > > > http://linuxcapacityplanning.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Rails mailing list > > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails > > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >
excellent book. I picked up a few Ruby "nuggets" that I wasn''t aware of. scott. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What''s an Intel chip doing in a Mac? A whole lor more that it''s ever done in a PC. My Digital Life - http://scottwalter.com/blog Pro:Blog - http://scottwalter.com/problog ----- Original Message ---- From: Paul Robinson <paul@iconoplex.co.uk> To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 4:12:38 AM Subject: Re: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! No, *I''m* Spartacus... I mean David... On 16 Apr 2006, at 01:32, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:> I''m sure Robby Russell will change his name to David real soon now. :) > > M. Edward (David) Borasky > > dblack@wobblini.net wrote: >> Hi -- >> >> On Sat, 15 Apr 2006, jmcgrath@whoi.edu wrote: >> >>> sweet, psyched to check it out. >>> >>> is there some kind of law that RoR books have to be written by >>> people named >>> ''David''? ;-) >> >> Judging by the population of Canada on Rails, I''d say that there''s at >> least a quasi-law that everyone who *uses* RoR has to be named David >> :-) >> >> >> David >> > > -- > M. Edward (Ed) Borasky > > http://linuxcapacityplanning.com > > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails_______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://wrath.rubyonrails.org/pipermail/rails/attachments/20060416/bb0ce4e3/attachment.html
After Pat''s glowing review I''m heading over to buy it. I was going to wait just because I''m a bit overloaded on books right now, but that did it for me. Michael
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
2006-Apr-16 17:31 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Henry Turner wrote:> Nice one! > Beginners need to know where ruby ends and rails begins. And questions > like "Do I need to know ruby to use rails?" are bad news! >To be fair to the beginners, more than one so-called expert has said that one does not need to know "much" Ruby to use Rails, indeed to develop a Rails application. Rails (today, anyhow) is to a great extent a domain-specific language written in Ruby for developing "Basecamp-like" web applications. As Rails co-evolves with the Ruby and the Rails user communities, I think the boundary between Rails and Ruby might just get *less* defined than it is already. :) Before Rails, I for one had only heard of Ruby in the context of computer music as a scripting language for a "Max-like" package called PureData/Gridflow. In other words, before Rails, to me Ruby was "just another scripting language that I had to learn to use a package", like VBA is for Excel. I would have never wanted to learn Ruby itself if it had not been for Rails. -- M. Edward (Ed) Borasky http://linuxcapacityplanning.com
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-16 18:59 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi -- On Sun, 16 Apr 2006, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:> Henry Turner wrote: >> Nice one! >> Beginners need to know where ruby ends and rails begins. And questions >> like "Do I need to know ruby to use rails?" are bad news! >> > To be fair to the beginners, more than one so-called expert has said that one > does not need to know "much" Ruby to use Rails, indeed to develop a Rails > application. Rails (today, anyhow) is to a great extent a domain-specific > language written in Ruby for developing "Basecamp-like" web applications. > > As Rails co-evolves with the Ruby and the Rails user communities, I think the > boundary between Rails and Ruby might just get *less* defined than it is > already. :) Before Rails, I for one had only heard of Ruby in the context of > computer music as a scripting language for a "Max-like" package called > PureData/Gridflow.I come from somewhat the other end of the spectrum. By the time Rails appeared, I''d co-organized four international Ruby conferences, contributed Ruby book chapters, co-founded a non-profit Ruby support group, and participated almost daily on at least one Ruby mailing list. And that''s nothing, compared to what people were doing in Japan :-) At the second of those conferences (2002), Masayoshi Takahashi brought with him from Japan a box of all *twenty-two* Ruby books then published in Japanese. Every Ruby/Rails programmer should see this photo -- it''s great, and it was so exciting to see them close up. http://www.pablotron.org/gallery/rubyconf2002/?g_show=1&g_ofs=28&g_num=1 In short, there''s plenty of Ruby to go around :-) I don''t see any occlusion taking place, as between Ruby and Rails. It''s purely additive, and very successful, I think.> In other words, before Rails, to me Ruby was "just another scripting language > that I had to learn to use a package", like VBA is for Excel. I would have > never wanted to learn Ruby itself if it had not been for Rails.Canada on Rails, which took place at the end of this past week, once again convinced me of how nice the fit is, not only between Ruby and Rails as technologies but between and among the various constituencies and communities that are attracted to either or both. It''s a fun ride -- long may it continue. David -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-16 19:02 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi -- On Sun, 16 Apr 2006, dblack@wobblini.net wrote:> I come from somewhat the other end of the spectrum. By the time > Rails appeared, I''d co-organized four international Ruby conferences, > contributed Ruby book chapters, co-founded a non-profit Ruby support > group, and participated almost daily on at least one Ruby mailing > list.When I say "support group"... I mean Ruby Central, Inc., the non-profit group that exists in support of Ruby endeavors (it''s the parent organization of RubyConf and RailsConf). Not a group devoted to helping people cope with the hardships of using Ruby :-) David -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
I agree with this completely. As much as I like the pickaxe, I have to admit that I learned more about Ruby from the first half-dozen chapters of R4R than from any other source. If you already know an OO language, you''ll have to filter out all the beginning OO stuff. Once you get beyond that, it''s amazing. I also can''t believe how many traps there are in Ruby for Java developers. I''m so glad I''m reading this (I''m not done yet) before trying to finish the RoR projects I''ve started. Ken Kousen -- Kenneth A. Kousen, Ph.D. President Kousen IT, Inc. http://www.kousenit.com ken.kousen@kousenit.com -----Original Message----- From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of Todd Breiholz Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 10:46 PM To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org Subject: Re: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! David Congratulations on a great book! I''ve been reading it over the last couple of weeks through the MEAP. I''ve been "playing" with Ruby since last summer when I first encountered Rails. Your book added more to my understanding of the Ruby language than any thing else I''ve read over the past 6 months. Todd Breiholz On 4/15/06, dblack@wobblini.net <dblack@wobblini.net> wrote:> Hi everyone -- > > Writing from Canada (just finished attending Canada on Rails, which > was a big success), to let you know that my book "Ruby for Rails: Ruby > techniques for Rails developers" has now been released in PDF by > Manning Publications, with the paper publication to follow in the > first week of May. You can order either or both at the Manning > website. > > Manning has been having some website issues (they''ve been doing a > whole huge migration), so please be patient as you step through the > slightly rocky landscape :-) > > When you go to http://www.manning.com/black, you may be asked to click > through to another site (secure.manning.com), which is their backup > sales site during the transition. If so, just click through and there > you''ll be. > > And please drop by the Author Online forum at > http://www.manning-sandbox.com/forum.jspa?forumID=200! > > > David > > P.S. There are two sample chapters available for free. They''re on the > http://www.manning.com/black site (not yet on the other, I think), so > check there first :-) > > -- > David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) > Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) > > "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black > Paper version coming in early May! > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >_______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
On Apr 16, 2006, at 10:18 pm, Ken Kousen wrote:> I agree with this completely. As much as I like the pickaxe, I > have to > admit that I learned more about Ruby from the first half-dozen > chapters of > R4R than from any other source.Ken, I''m pushing Rails where I work, as at least something we should seriously look into before switching to Java. I''ve read the pickaxe cover-to-cover and back again (before I even knew about Rails), and consider myself pretty clued up language-wise. But the developers I work with are all Java/C# types. Do you think buying a copy of this would be the best way to get them up to speed if we go Rails? I want to keep my role as language tech support to a minimum, as the fact using Rails was my suggestion means *I''ll* be responsible for *them* learning to use the framework effectively!> If you already know an OO language, you''ll have to filter out all the > beginning OO stuff. Once you get beyond that, it''s amazing. > > I also can''t believe how many traps there are in Ruby for Java > developers. > I''m so glad I''m reading this (I''m not done yet) before trying to > finish the > RoR projects I''ve started.I was showing my boss some little tricks in irb the other day (the "try this in Java" type) and he asked me if there were any gotchas. At the time I couldn''t think of any (but then I''m not a developer myself so I haven''t used it for serious work). What do you think are the worst? Might be nice to forewarn everyone - they can be a right bunch of skeptics where I work :) Ashley
Just got this book and all I can say is "I wish I had this a looooong time ago!" I have both PragProg books on Ruby & Rails so I am talking in retrospect and with the background given by these two books. Basically, to me "Ruby for Rails" is much more logically organized and thorough in the sense that it pretty much covers all the aspects a newbie would wrap their heads around or not know where to ask. It delves into enough of the innards of the language (ruby) and framework (rails) that you could feel comfortable that you have enough background knowledge not to get lost in meaninglessly fighting the language or just look at rails as "voodoo". The coverage of ruby is really good with explanations of aspects that aren''t even mentioned in "Programming Ruby" and this is really good for people like me that come with absolutely no background in programming. Also, the conceptual frameworks of MVC and object-oriented programming are covered nicely as well. I don''t mean to knock the PragProg books but by the time I got to Chapter 3, I felt like I was fast forwarded into concepts that were still beyond me. Of course, this is mainly due to my ignorance. This book makes Rails seem less "voodoo". http://www.manning.com/black/excerpt_contents.html It will be a nice complement to the existing library as well since it is based on Rails 1.0. If you combine this with "Rails Recipes" you can be up to speed with the cutting edge of stable releases. Of course, Rails is still a moving target with its rapid pace of development. However, since it is a book about Ruby FOR Rails, you will not find as much information on modelling data objects and various scenarios such as single-table inheritance etc. that you find in the Pick Axe book. Also as you can see from the table of contents above, the section dedicated exclusively to rails is a way smaller proportion of volume dedicated to ruby. Still, since the print version is coming out in May and the full price of the ebook is deducted from your print purchase, I say it is an extremely good deal and nice addition to the family of books out there. Congratulations on writing this fine piece of work and thank you.
Jon Gretar Borgthorsson
2006-Apr-17 12:27 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
On 4/16/06, Henry Turner <henryturnerlists@googlemail.com> wrote:> Nice one! > Beginners need to know where ruby ends and rails begins. And questions > like "Do I need to know ruby to use rails?" are bad news! > > beers > -hActually... In my experience. Start using Rails and the basics of Ruby start coming quite easily. I did end up buying the "Programming Ruby" Pragmatic book but mostly because I got interested in creating Ruby programs outside Rails. -- -------------- Jon Gretar Borgthorsson http://www.jongretar.net/
Hi Ashley, To an experienced OO developer, the R4R book feels like a "Dummies" book. That''s a bit off-putting at first, but appropriate for its target audience. When you get beyond that, though, the meat of the language really is there. I would say, therefore, that if you think the Java/C++ types in your organization won''t mind the basic stuff, go for it. My experience is that if you take a room full of Java developers and build a simple e-commerce app using Rails in about 20 minutes, they become sufficiently dazzled that they''ll want to see more. As for Ruby gotchas, here are a couple (I''m eventually going to assemble a web page of these things): 1. If you''re in a method and you call "super" by itself, it passes the current arguments to the superclass version. If you call "super()" instead, no arguments are passed. 2. In order to use setter methods that end in =, you have to say "self.var value". If you just write "var = value", you''ve created a local variable and set it rather than modifying the attribute. Inside a method, "self" is "this". 3. If you declare an attribute outside a method (the way you normally do in Java), you''re actually creating an attribute of the _class_ (i.e., a static attribute) rather than of an instance attribute. You need to create instance attributes inside a method. Outside a method, "self" is the Class (!). That''s a subset of the bigger issue: In Ruby, "self != this", except when it does. :) That''s actually a huge problem for Java developers. In Java, static methods don''t even have a "this" reference. In Ruby, "self" outside a method means the Class object itself. The chapter in R4R that explains all that is worth the price of the book right there. I''ll mention others as I go along. Ken -- Kenneth A. Kousen, Ph.D. President Kousen IT, Inc. http://www.kousenit.com ken.kousen@kousenit.com -----Original Message----- From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Moran Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 6:04 PM To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org Subject: Re: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! On Apr 16, 2006, at 10:18 pm, Ken Kousen wrote:> I agree with this completely. As much as I like the pickaxe, I > have to > admit that I learned more about Ruby from the first half-dozen > chapters of > R4R than from any other source.Ken, I''m pushing Rails where I work, as at least something we should seriously look into before switching to Java. I''ve read the pickaxe cover-to-cover and back again (before I even knew about Rails), and consider myself pretty clued up language-wise. But the developers I work with are all Java/C# types. Do you think buying a copy of this would be the best way to get them up to speed if we go Rails? I want to keep my role as language tech support to a minimum, as the fact using Rails was my suggestion means *I''ll* be responsible for *them* learning to use the framework effectively!> If you already know an OO language, you''ll have to filter out all the > beginning OO stuff. Once you get beyond that, it''s amazing. > > I also can''t believe how many traps there are in Ruby for Java > developers. > I''m so glad I''m reading this (I''m not done yet) before trying to > finish the > RoR projects I''ve started.I was showing my boss some little tricks in irb the other day (the "try this in Java" type) and he asked me if there were any gotchas. At the time I couldn''t think of any (but then I''m not a developer myself so I haven''t used it for serious work). What do you think are the worst? Might be nice to forewarn everyone - they can be a right bunch of skeptics where I work :) Ashley _______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-18 03:30 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi -- On Mon, 17 Apr 2006, Ken Kousen wrote:> 3. If you declare an attribute outside a method (the way you normally do in > Java), you''re actually creating an attribute of the _class_ (i.e., a static > attribute) rather than of an instance attribute. You need to create > instance attributes inside a method. Outside a method, "self" is the Class > (!).I think you mean instance variables here, rather than attributes. Attributes are kind of second-order constructs layered on top of instance variables (i.e., when you do attr_reader and related methods, the attribute methods Ruby generates are implemented using instance variables). But the instance variables themselves are not attributes; they can be used for different purposes. Maybe this makes it less of a ''gotcha'', in the sense that instance variables can be understood incrementally from local variables (plus the "self" concept), and then attributes are built on top of that. David -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!
Of course, that''s another trap. In Java, the words "instance variables" and "attributes" are interchangeable. :) Ken -- Kenneth A. Kousen, Ph.D. President Kousen IT, Inc. http://www.kousenit.com ken.kousen@kousenit.com -----Original Message----- From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of dblack@wobblini.net Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 11:30 PM To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org Subject: RE: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! Hi -- On Mon, 17 Apr 2006, Ken Kousen wrote:> 3. If you declare an attribute outside a method (the way you normally doin> Java), you''re actually creating an attribute of the _class_ (i.e., astatic> attribute) rather than of an instance attribute. You need to create > instance attributes inside a method. Outside a method, "self" is theClass> (!).I think you mean instance variables here, rather than attributes. Attributes are kind of second-order constructs layered on top of instance variables (i.e., when you do attr_reader and related methods, the attribute methods Ruby generates are implemented using instance variables). But the instance variables themselves are not attributes; they can be used for different purposes. Maybe this makes it less of a ''gotcha'', in the sense that instance variables can be understood incrementally from local variables (plus the "self" concept), and then attributes are built on top of that. David -- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May! _______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
dblack@wobblini.net
2006-Apr-18 14:22 UTC
[Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF!
Hi -- On Tue, 18 Apr 2006, Ken Kousen wrote:> Of course, that''s another trap. In Java, the words "instance variables" and > "attributes" are interchangeable. :)Think of them not as traps but as releases *from* traps :-) David> Ken > > -- > Kenneth A. Kousen, Ph.D. > President > Kousen IT, Inc. > http://www.kousenit.com > ken.kousen@kousenit.com > -----Original Message----- > From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org > [mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of > dblack@wobblini.net > Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 11:30 PM > To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > Subject: RE: [Rails] [ANN] "Ruby for Rails" now available in PDF! > > Hi -- > > On Mon, 17 Apr 2006, Ken Kousen wrote: > >> 3. If you declare an attribute outside a method (the way you normally do > in >> Java), you''re actually creating an attribute of the _class_ (i.e., a > static >> attribute) rather than of an instance attribute. You need to create >> instance attributes inside a method. Outside a method, "self" is the > Class >> (!). > > I think you mean instance variables here, rather than attributes. > Attributes are kind of second-order constructs layered on top of > instance variables (i.e., when you do attr_reader and related methods, > the attribute methods Ruby generates are implemented using instance > variables). But the instance variables themselves are not attributes; > they can be used for different purposes. > > Maybe this makes it less of a ''gotcha'', in the sense that instance > variables can be understood incrementally from local variables (plus > the "self" concept), and then attributes are built on top of that. > > > David > > -- > David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) > Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) > > "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black > Paper version coming in early May! > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails > > > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >-- David A. Black (dblack@wobblini.net) Ruby Power and Light, LLC (http://www.rubypowerandlight.com) "Ruby for Rails" PDF now on sale! http://www.manning.com/black Paper version coming in early May!