[ale] semi [OT] making learning ruby programming fun?

[Jay Lozier]

On 03/25/2013 10:39 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> As some of you know who've been following my prior threads, I've had a long time interest in learning a modern programming language.  I've had difficulty putting the proper time into the studies, but I'm always genuinely interested in the information I learn here.  Leam had convinced me that GO was a great language, and I believe it is.  I was going to tackle that, but I have misgivings about its lack of popularity in the market place.
>
> According to:
>
> http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html
>
> GO ranks between 51 and 100 in usage, and the percentage is so low it's not listed.  So, like it or not, learning GO might be a skill few people want.  I decided to defer that.
>
> Most recently, I decided to learn the specific language of the MetaTrader currency trading platform so I can build a tradebot.  I am working on that slowly.  Unless I get really good, it is unlikely someone will hire me for that.  The objective would be for the tradebot to make money using my own account.
>
> So, I still have an interest in learning a general programming language.
>
> I'm interested in a modern garbage collected language, preferably multi paradigm, with safe I/O and system calls, that can be compiled, and that doesn't care about white space.
>
> See this comparison:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_programming_languages
>
> I've chosen Ruby as my project language.
>
> According to the link posted above, the top 10 languages, and some of the reasons I've rejected some of them, are as follows.  No offense is intended to anyone that programs in these languages.
>
> 01) Java - security problems
>
> 02) C - not modern garbage collected
>
> 03) Objective C - Apple centric primarily
>
> 04) C++ - not modern garbage collected
>
> 05) C# - MS centric primarily
>
> ------------
>
> 06) PHP - security problems
> per
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Php
> "About 30% of all vulnerabilities listed on the National Vulnerability Database are linked to PHP."
>
> 07) VB - MS centric
>
> 08) Python - cares about white space
>
> 09) Ruby - This is my choice.
>
> 10) Perl - does not have safe I/O and system calls
> per
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_programming_languages
>
> -------------
>
> So, having said all that, I have some Ruby questions.
>
> A) I have the "PickAxe" book on Ruby 1.9 by Dave Thomas.  Is that a good resource for learning, or do I need to upgrade to a Ruby 2.0 book now that version 2 is out?
 From what I have seen the big change was between 1.8 and 1.9. The 
changes between 1.9 to 2.0 are not dramatic.
>
> B) Does anyone have any experience compiling Ruby either through Rubinius or JRuby or otherwise?
>
> See http://patshaughnessy.net/2012/2/15/is-ruby-interpreted-or-compiled
>
> Finally, I've observed that reading one of these programming books is about as much fun as reading the US tax code.  You get a thousand little examples of things like using for next loops to do a factorial.  Now that's exciting.  I've seen maybe 1 of 100 books, primarily from Deitel and Deitel or the Head First series, that make learning programming fun.  They present you with real world applications, simplified, that are interesting.  They let you get something you can interact with on the screen quickly and work on learning how it works and tweaking it.  For example, a simulator of an ATM machine.  An actual working realistic program.
>
> C) So, does ANYONE know of a Ruby book that would make learning the language FUN, or at least moderately interesting?
>
> As always, any help is appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
> Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
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-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com