On Fri, 11 Jan 2002 02:13:38 -0500, Moontoeki wrote:

> What is the best way to learn Ruby?
> 
> I am a newcomer with windows background.

<snip, for brevity>

Like you, I'm also coming from the Windows camp and am interested in the
most efficient path to understanding the "ideal" Ruby implementation
strateg[y|ies].

This is my first attempt at a scripting language, by the way.  Since 1988
I've been developing primarily in some dialect of the xBase language
family (dBaseIII+,Foxbase+,Foxpro2.x,Visual Foxpro3,5,6) in the DOS and
Windows world.  While Visual Foxpro has given me lots of room to grow in
my understanding, and use, of "the object oriented way," I'm sure there's
a lot that I still don't know and that probably undergirds some of what
Matz had in mind when creating Ruby.

So aside from the mechanics of Ruby syntax, and actual time spent
attempting this or that implementation of some project, is there some
attitude or philosophy or perspective that might enable me to quickly
grasp the elegance behind "the Ruby way?"

FWIW, although I'm constrained to Windows development at work, I love
programming and run both Windows and Linux at home.  And though I'm really
quite the Linux newbie, it has become my preferred platform for both
personal and professional software development.  I look forward to the day
when I can actually make the switch from making a living in Windows to
making a living in Linux (not trying to start a flame war, just sharing my
own personal feelings -- your mileage may vary  :-)

I'm looking forward to whatever advice you folks may wish to offer. Thanks
in advance...

Richard

-- 
Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea,
   never regains its original dimensions."
              --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.