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Introduction to the Ruby Programming Language

Welcome to the Comprehensive Ruby Programming book! I'm excited to go through all the materials and walk you through this great programming language.

I've been a programmer for more than a decade, and I started Ruby about five years ago. Since then, I absolutely fell in love with Ruby for a wide array of reasons. As you learn the language you'll discover that you spend less time worrying about the syntax and more time coding, which adds to the fun. By the time you're finished with this course I hope you'll love this language as much as I do!

In this chapter, we'll take a high level view of the Ruby programming language, learn how to install it on your system, and get it up and running so you can start building Ruby programs. By the end of this chapter, you will have learnt the following:

Describe the high level concepts of the Ruby programming language
Construct the configuration to run Ruby programs
Define how to work with multiple Ruby versions

Installing Ruby on a computer

Before we can start programming, you'll need to get Ruby installed on your system. I'm going to walk you through how you can install it on your computer regardless of your operating system, and I'll also give you alternate options if you don't want to install Ruby locally (however I highly recommend installing it).

Ruby language dashboard

Let's start by going to http://ruby-lang.org:

When you click on the Download Ruby button, it will take you to the following page:

This page gives you information on how to install Ruby on your system.

If you are using the Windows operating system, follow these steps:

Go to rubyinstaller.org:

From this list, you can pick the stable version you want, I recommend that you go with the latest stable version. When you click on any of these links, the installer will run and you will be ready to go.

If you're using macOS, Ruby is already installed on your system. To check this follow these steps:

I created a file called do_I_have_ruby.rb, which has only one line of code in it:

     puts "Yes, you have Ruby!"

Next, go to your Terminal (make sure that you're in the same directory as your Ruby file) and run the file with the following command:

      ruby do_I_have_ruby.rb

This should display your string, if Ruby is properly installed:

If you don't feel comfortable creating and running a Ruby file like this, you can simply type irb into a Terminal window and if it opens up it means that you have Ruby. You can also type ruby -v to have the system show you what version of Ruby is installed.

One thing that you can do if you are using the Mac or Linux operating systems is to use the Ruby Version Manager (RVM). This gives you the flexibility to use different Ruby versions for different projects.

To install RVM, go to http://rvm.io, and here you will find the Terminal commands that you can simply copy and paste in your Terminal:

Once you've installed RVM, type rvm list and this should list out all the Ruby versions on your system. If you want to change versions you can call the use command. For example, type in your Terminal to switch to Ruby version 2.4.0:

rvm 2.4.0

If you don't want to install Ruby on your local system, but still want to learn how to build Ruby programs, you can go to http://repl.it/languages. This should give you the list of languages available in the repl.it dashboard. When you click on Ruby, it will take you to a Terminal that will render all your Ruby code.

I tend to use this site if I have to quickly debug an algorithm or a confusing script. It's a great tool because you're able to get a side-by-side perspective on your code with its output:

So that's how you install Ruby! Now with that installed, you're ready to start learning how to build Ruby programs!

Key benefits

• Provides the core skills required to become a Ruby programmer

• Covers how to use the most popular Ruby Gem libraries

• Includes details on regular expressions

Description

Ruby is a powerful, general-purpose programming language that can be applied to any task. Whether you are an experienced developer who wants to learn a new language or you are new to programming, this book is your comprehensive Ruby coding guide. Starting with the foundational principles, such as syntax, and scaling up to advanced topics such as big data analysis, this book will give you all of the tools you need to be a professional Ruby developer. A few of the key topics are: object-oriented programming, built-in Ruby methods, core programming skills, and an introduction to the Ruby on Rails and Sinatra web frameworks. You will also build 10 practical Ruby programs. Created by an experienced Ruby developer, this book has been written to ensure it focuses on the skills you will need to be a professional Ruby developer. After you have read this book, you will be ready to start building real-world Ruby projects.

What you will learn

• Learn how to use Ruby code effectively, picking the right tool for the job and not duplicating built-in functionality

• Gain best software development practices, and how to identify and fix common errors

• Absorb core programming skills, such as variables, strings, loops, conditionals, and much more

• Explore object-oriented programming and learn to create modular, reusable code that you can use across projects

• Build 10 practical Ruby programs as you work through the book on topics such as big data analysis and solving Euler equations

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Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped

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Gregory V. Pastorelli Aug 06, 2017

Great book, having come from Python, it's an excellent way to add Ruby to my skill set. Unlike some technology books it's not dry and is an easy read

Amazon Verified review

Ryan Oct 08, 2017

The code examples are too brief and lack explanation.. In some parts the code samples do not run at all, and what is worse is when I feel I simply mistyping something and need to reference the books code from githut, half the chapters are missing. If you can muddle your way through it, perhaps you can learn some ruby code.

Jerry P. Brook Jan 07, 2020

I am not new to computer programming; I enjoy learning new languages (new to me that is).That said, I find it infuriating when I come across a poorly written instruction manual. And I find that the vast majority of manuals are poorly written. Just because you can do, does not mean that you can teach.The fact that this book is authored by a person who claims to be a teacher is actually disturbing.I did not make it past the first thirty (30) pages of this book before putting it down in disgust.Let me explain; the author claims that this book is for beginners and yet at every step he uses terms that would be utterly unknown and confusing to the beginner.I am not a beginner and so I am familiar with the terms, however, such a poor writing style and confusing organization of the information and concepts indicates a true lack of knowledge of the educational process, and will lead the reader to frustration not education.In the second chapter entitled “Ruby Variables” he actually begins with output.There is nothing more than a single paragraph on what exactly variables are, why and how you would use them, he won’t tell you.In his second example of printing out to the console, again not an explanation of variables, he discusses arrays. Arrays is a topic supposedly not covered until chapter seven (7) of the book. Going into detail about a topic not yet covered, and so clearly not known to the reader shows a true lack of educational ability.For some unknown reason he focuses on the “puts” versus the “p” commands, why I do not know, because at this point the beginner still doesn’t even know what variables are.He then proceeds to the function of getting input from the user, again why? You haven’t learned about any of the basics at this point. He explains the “chomp” command with a few lines discussing the removal of the carriage return. We still haven’t even discussed variables, there use, there context, and he is off discussing items that no beginner will know anything about at this stage.His next code example uses the “if” statement, which won’t be covered until chapter 8. So, there is no way that the beginner will understand, or be able to truly follow, along – and I don’t know, learn something!But wait it gets worse, he then discusses scope (finally something relating to variables), except that he hasn’t explained program structure yet. So, scope is much to early, and of course he discusses; methods – not to be learned until chapter 5, loops – not to be learned until chapter 6, collections – not to be learned until chapter 7, and classes – not to be learned until chapter 9.Clearly, he is one of those people who does a brain dump, and simply regurgitates everything that he knows, or can say, all at once. With no context, and no iterative knowledge building. He doesn’t build a house from the ground up, in steps, each piece relying on the last in order to create a sound structure, a foundation.He has no concept that these principles themselves grew up and did not all appear at once. In other words, the very people who created these programming concepts had to slowly; add, modify, and improve them. Which means that they had to learn; why, how, when, and where, to use them. They didn't just happen all at once.It is safe to say that I do not recommend this book, and I would not recommend hiring this person to teach anyone, anything. If I could have given zero stars I would have.

Comprehensive Ruby Programming: From beginner to confident programmer

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Comprehensive Ruby Programming

Introduction to the Ruby Programming Language

What is Ruby?

Popular sites that use Ruby

Installing Ruby on a computer

Ruby language dashboard

Installing different Ruby versions with RVM

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