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

Wed Mar 27 11:35:52 EDT 2013

One of the tools Alan Hecht and I use when we teach ruby at Emerald City is
the Ruby Koans(http://rubykoans.com/).  This is Test Driven Learning, which
means it's a set of unit test that work you through learning ruby.

Thanks,
Allan Davis

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 10:53 AM, Doug Hall <doughalldev at gmail.com> wrote:

> I love Ruby. Ruby's creator's motivation was to write a language that make
> people happy using it. You may not get paid a lot of money for Ruby, but
> take it from a former Oracle DBA, the people who get paid a lot of money
> for maintaining Oracle, is because nobody with a creative brain would enjoy
> such monotony, and such a feeling of helplessness. Once you go ORACLE, you
> have to go ORACLE all the way. Reading their documentation is like Alice in
> Wonderland. Once you go down the rabbit hole, it's difficult to get out.
>
> But Python is also a good language. I agree with Charles that whitespace
> should not be a deal breaker. Also, programming GUIs with Python is a bit
> easier and more flexible. Both languages have lots of good libraries.
>
> Doug
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 8:21 AM, Charles Shapiro <hooterpincher at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> My $0.02:  Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (
>> http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ ).  One of the more unusual
>> language textbooks you will encounter.
>>
>> btw I enjoy C, C++, Python, SQL, shell, and several other languages about
>> equally.  I dunno why Python's caring about whitespace is a deal-breaker
>> for Mr. Frazier.
>>
>> -- CHS
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 9:29 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) <
>> atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Scott,
>>>
>>> I understand what you're saying.  Heck, if someone wants to pay me to
>>> learn it, then I will.  At the moment, though, I've uninstalled Java on all
>>> my Windows machines and am trying to figure out how to do so in Linux
>>> because of the security risks of having it on my system.  If I have to
>>> learn it, or use it, I might have to do so in a purpose built VM.
>>>
>>> I have heard that the Java syntax is more obtuse and verbose and that
>>> the object model is harder to follow than some others.  I get the
>>> impression that you have to type a whole lot more and it's a lot more
>>> cryptic to get something done, versus, say, Go or Ruby.  That's just from
>>> memory and I cannot remember the source.  There may have been multiple
>>> sources.  But, I don't have any personal experience with it.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Scott Plante <splante at insightsys.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> >There are probably some good reasons not to pick Java as the modern
>>> >language you want to learn, but "security problems" is not one of them.
>>> >There have been several security holes found lately, but they relate to
>>> >running un-trusted Java in the browser. Almost all the Java jobs
>>> >revolve around writing Java on the server, and practically all the rest
>>> >are Java applications on the desktop or as a trusted applet or
>>> >browser-launched application.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >It's a very hard problem to allow random, un-trusted code to run on
>>> >your computer and yet prevent it from doing any harm. It's a bit easier
>>> >if you have an extremely limited language that doesn't do much anyway.
>>> >They're constantly finding security holes in JavaScript, Flash, and
>>> >ActiveX, too. That's not meant to be an excuse and vendors do try to
>>> >fix holes as quickly as possible, with differing levels of competency .
>>> >Also, these holes weren't in "Java" per se, but in the Oracle JVM. Some
>>> >of them might also have been in, say, the IBM JVM or JRocket JVM since
>>> >there is code sharing between projects. But they were probably not in
>>> >Google's Dalvik JVM (since they don't do applets), even though for
>>> >Android you write in the Java language (more or less).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >In a recent security contest, participants found holes inthe major
>>> >browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari and Java and Win 7/8.
>>> >Chrome OS did relatively well with only a "partial" exploit. It's not
>>> >so much that Java is less secure than JavaScript, it's just that you
>>> >can do general browsing these days without Java, but you can't do
>>> >without JavaScript.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >But all these security holes, in a sense, exist in spades for PHP, C,
>>> >C++, etc., because they're not even trying to limit what your code can
>>> >do. In other words, if the OS allows your user to overwrite a file with
>>> >a regular program (not an unsigned applet) written in Java, you can
>>> >also overwrite that file with C, PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, etc. But
>>> >they're not security "holes" because the language (including Java) is
>>> >making no guarantees in that case. But avoiding Java on the server-side
>>> >because of unsigned applet security holes is like choosing a sedan for
>>> >highway driving over a crossover, because the crossover gets stuck in
>>> >the mud more than a Hummer.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >Scott
>>> >
>>> >----- Original Message -----
>>> >
>>> >From: "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>
>>> >To: "ALE" <ale at ale.org>
>>> >Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 10:39:11 AM
>>> >Subject: [ale] semi [OT] making learning ruby programming fun?
>>> >
>>> >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?
>>> >
>>> >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
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >_______________________________________________
>>> >Ale mailing list
>>> >Ale at ale.org
>>> >http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>> >See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> >http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> >
>>> >_______________________________________________
>>> >Ale mailing list
>>> >Ale at ale.org
>>> >http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>> >See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> >http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ale mailing list
>>> Ale at ale.org
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>

-- 
_______________________
Allan Davis
http://www.linkedin.com/in/cajuncode
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20130327/c5f84608/attachment-0001.html>