Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

Posted by timothy on Wednesday February 18, 2004 @06:48AM from the sniff dept.

Colonel Panic writes "Why the lucky stiff has written one of the most unusual (and poignant) books about programming that I've ever encountered. The best description for it so far (seen on comp.lang.ruby) is that it's sort of like 'The Little Prince meets SICP'. However, it defies all attempts at description (at least in this small space), you've got to read it for yourself. Like SICP, the full text is available for free. This one is destined to become a classic - it will likely be known to future generations of jobless American computer scientists as 'The Fox Book.'"

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There's also a mailing list and a project site... by tcopeland · 2004-02-18 07:17 · Score: 4, Informative

...for the code for the book.

The list archives are here and the project site is here.

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Re:I like the style, but not the content by avdi · 2004-02-18 11:27 · Score: 4, Informative

A variable is a box

Wrong. In C/C++ a variable is a box. In Ruby (as in Python and many other dynamic languages) a variable has reference symantics, making the "nickname" metaphore reasonably apt.

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