Title:  Everyday Scripting with Ruby
Subtitle: For Teams, Testers, and You
Author: Brian Marick
Pages: 320
ISBN:	0-9776166-1-4
Publication Month: January 2007
Publisher: Pragmatic

Somewhat Longer Review

Contents

• The Title
• About the Reviewer
• Expectations
• What You Get
• Likes
• Gripes
• Who's the Book for?
• Final Thoughts

The Title

Everyday

"Everyday" here modifies Scripting. I understand it to indicate that the Scripting is the kind you are likely to do day to day.

Scripting

Scripting I take to be synonymous with programming but with the connotation that it's not too difficult.

Ruby

Ruby is a programming language which:

• is object oriented
• is interpretive
• is reflexive
• is expressive
• incorporates the features of many other languages
• is open source
• is available for many operating systems (e.g. Unix, Linux, Windows, BeOS, etc.)
• is dynamically typed
• is easy to read and write

If you don't know what some of the above means, no problem. You can just focus on the last item in the list:

• is easy to read and write

Does the Title fit the book?

Yep. This book is for sure about programming in Ruby. And programming in Ruby should be way easier for you than programming in many other languages. This book does appear to be aimed at preparing you for the kind of Ruby scripts you're actually likely to create.

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About the Reviewer

Language Experience

I've made significant use of more than 20 computer programming languages.

Reason for Considering Ruby

My favorite computer language has been Perl ever since I was exposed to it in 1994. But I find Perl 5's OO awkward at best.

I find Perl 6 intriguing. It looks like it will have many features I'd like, be simple to get started with, and still have the Perl feel. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to suspect it will never be completed.

That's why I'm interested in Ruby. That and because I favor dynamic open source languages.

Didn't Follow Directions

I didn't read the book as it was intended to be read. My aim was to learn Ruby well enough to use it a little and well enough to decide if I wanted to put a significant effort into learning more Ruby. I focused mostly on the early chapters and the Ruby Facts chapters.

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Expectations

My expectation was that

• I'd be able to learn the basics of Ruby from the book.
• I'd be able to write some simple Ruby scripts.
• I'd be able to learn enough to decide if I wanted to learn more Ruby.

Also, my expectation was that these things would not be very hard to do.

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What You Get

Pages

The book is 320 pages long and that's including both front matter (e.g. title page and table of contents) and back matter (e.g. appendixes and the index). It also includes

• some blank pages
• and some pages that contain just a part title.

Chapters

There are 24 chapters. The longest chapter is 27 pages long; the shortest chapter is just two pages long; the average chapter length is less than 10 pages.

Ruby Facts Chapters

Some (8) of the chapter's have names that begin "Ruby Facts:". All but one of these chapter is 4 to 6 pages long.

Many of these chapters contain tables of very brief examples with similarly brief explanations of them.

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Likes

Examples

I especially like the very short examples and accompanying brief explanations in the Ruby Facts chapters. I found them invaluable in learning Ruby basics. :)

Learned Enough Ruby

I like that I was able to learn enough Ruby to write some simple Ruby scripts. :)

I was able to learn enough to decide that Ruby interests me. :) :)

Length

I like that the book is short. :)

Tests First

I like that the author encourages the reader to write tests first. This approach, which I was exposed to before reading this book, has certainly made my program development easier. :)

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Gripes

Sometimes Not Clear

I didn't think the author was always clear. :(

For example, I was unclear about the significance of an "at sign" in Ruby. I thought I'd discover the significance by either

• following the page references to @ in the index
• or rereading the Ruby Facts chapter on classes.

Neither led to the knowledge I sought.

Fortunately, doing some web searches uncovered a specific statement about the significance of the at sign. :)

Not Convincing On Approach

The author didn't convince me to use the book as he suggested. :(

I'm a bit of a contrarian, so maybe that's it. On the other hand, I almost always follow the author's lead.

No Laughs

While reading the book, at no time did I laugh (or even chuckle). :(

However, it's not like the author is completely dry. Actually the text is generally quite readable. :)

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Who's the Book for?

For

Programmers

The book would be good for a relatively experienced programmer who:

• wants to learn some Ruby
• and is creative and flexible in his/her approach to learning

The book might also be good for someone with little or no experience programming. Because of the way I used the book and because I'm an experienced programmer, I'll not give an opinion.

Testers

The book would likely be good for a tester who wanted to learn Ruby. Hey, the book was originally written for testers.

Not For

The book would not be good for someone who

• is not interested in learning a dynamic language
• or is unwilling to put any effort into learning a language

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Final Thoughts

If you want to learn a fairly easy to learn programming language, you may wish to visit your technical book store of choice and take a look at this book.

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