On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:22 PM, Gregory
Brown<gregory.t.brown / gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> If you haven't already heard, my book "Ruby Best Practices" is now
> available in print!
>
> The whole manuscript will be made freely available under a creative
> commons license in March 2010, but now is the time to buy a copy if
> you want to support my efforts as well as O'Reilly for publishing it.
>
> =3D=3D Where to buy
>
> It should be showing up in stores now, as I confirmed it's available
> here in New Haven, but if you want it online:
>
> Directly from the publisher:
> http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596523008/
>
> Amazon (likely cheaper, but less $ goes to me that way :)
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596523009
>
> =3D=3D What is the book like?
>
> It's probably not like any other Ruby book you've read. =A0It isn't a
> reference book or tutorial, but instead, more like commentary you'd
> expect to hear in a code review.
> RBP walks through a whole bunch of real open source code, and tries
> really hard to keep the balance tipped towards realistic examples
> rather than contrived ones.
>
> It isn't a list of rules or patterns, instead, it tries to drive home
> the importance of context in problem solving by using a lot of case
> studies.
> It's meant to be read by the chapter, so it won't make for an easy
> skim. =A0But if you sit down with your favorite reference book[0] on
> your desk, and your development environment at the ready, it should be
> an enjoyable read.
>
> It is a Ruby 1.9 book, but most of the techniques should work fine in
> Ruby 1.8.6.
>
> The book is split into 8 core topics and 3 appendices. =A0These cover:
>
> =A0* Test Driven Development
> =A0* API Design
> =A0* Dynamic Ruby (Metaprogramming, DSLs, etc)
> =A0* Text Processing and File management (IO, regex, etc)
> =A0* Functional Programming Techniques
> =A0* Debugging / Troubleshooting
> =A0* M17N / L10N (Globalization)
> =A0* Project Maintenance (rake, Rubygems, rdoc, etc)
>
> =A0* Some Ruby 1.8 <-> 1.9 compatibility tips
> =A0* Ruby's Standard Library (Quick sample of 10 libs)
> =A0* Ruby Worst Practices
>
> If you're curious how these chapters are organized, you can look at a
> free copy of a pre-production version of the metaprogramming chapter:
> http://cdn.oreilly.com/books/9780596523008/Mastering_the_Dynamic_Toolkit.=
xml.pdf
>
> =3D=3D Target Audience
>
> Anyone who wants to improve their craft as Ruby developers. =A0While it
> may not be suitable for a raw beginner, it will be useful to anyone
> who has completed a small project in Ruby, and downright fun for a
> more seasoned Ruby hacker.
>
> =3D=3D Questions?
>
> Just let me know what's on your mind. =A0 I'd be happy to answer
> whatever questions folks might have about the book.
>
> -greg
>
> [0] Either the Pickaxe or "The Ruby Programming Language" should do
> the trick. =A0If you're more of a Ruby beginner, be sure to read David
> Black's "Well Grounded Rubyist" as well.

Looking forward to reading it.

Todd