In general, I tried to show one and only one way to do something. 
(This is for beginners, after all... why show two ways to do one thing
when I can show you how to do two different things in the same amount
of time!  :)

After you get through the tutorial, I highly recommend picking up a Pickaxe:
  http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/ruby/

You'll see that there are something like six different ways to make a
string, for example...  I've really tried to show just the beginnings
of Ruby.  Just enough.  It's not at all comprehensive (which the
pickaxe totally is... I didn't see a need for another comprehensive
introduction, just an easier one).

Happy Rubying!

Chris