A New PickAxe
Ruby 1.9 is just around the corner, so it looks like a good time to create a new edition of Programming Ruby. So, I'm pleased to announce that the Third Edition of the PickAxe has just entered beta.
The book's home page is at http://pragprog.com/titles/ruby3.
Although 1.9 is largely compatible with 1.8, there are definite differences. And it's been an interesting ride getting the examples in the book to compile and run with the current 1.9 interpreter. The book pushes the envelope in many different areas, and includes example code designed to illustrate edge cases. When I find these, I'm flagging them in the text and (if they look like bugs) adding them to the tracking system. But, so far, 1.9 is looking like a big win for Ruby.
Nice job, everyone.
Excellent. (dry-washes hands) I have been waiting for this ever since I heard 1.9 was coming out around Christmas. (evil laughter) This will fit in well with my plans.
So... any word yet on a Rails 2.0 book? :)
Posted by: Calamitous | December 13, 2007 at 09:53 PM
I am officially addicted to Pragmatic books.
Posted by: Grant Gelinas-Brown | December 13, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Excellent news! After scanning the TOC, I would recommend a short chapter listing the changes in 1.9.
Posted by: Glen | December 14, 2007 at 12:57 AM
strange that you did this and that you told that you are not interested at the moment for a new AWDWR book, when a lot of people on the net want it.
Posted by: skyblaze | December 14, 2007 at 05:55 AM
i purchased the beta pdf and at a first glance(research on the pdf) i noticed with surprise that it doesn't mention the new topic/implementation of yarv...the new virtual machine of ruby 1.9
Posted by: skyblaze | December 14, 2007 at 07:23 AM
Great job but aren't we at 2.01?
Posted by: Rutger | December 14, 2007 at 08:10 AM
Skyblaze:
There's only one of me, and updating each book is hundreds of hours of work. I had to choose...
As for YARV: In the early stages of the book, I don't think it's relevant--the original didn't mention the C-based interpreter either.
Dave
Posted by: Dave Thomas | December 14, 2007 at 08:38 AM
Rutger:
Not to my knowledge... :)
Posted by: Dave Thomas | December 14, 2007 at 08:39 AM
Aaauuuggghh! I just bought the 2nd edition this week ! Maybe Pragmatic Santa will put a free beta PDF in my stocking?
Posted by: Jeff | December 14, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Rutger, I think you got Ruby confused with Ruby on Rails.
I just got done buying the paper book a month or two ago. I think I'll just stick with PDFs from now on. Learning is expensive.
Posted by: R. Elliott Mason | December 14, 2007 at 02:14 PM
Excuse me mr thomas but i know that you aren't the only writer/author of your book series right?
Posted by: skyblaze | December 14, 2007 at 03:26 PM
Skyblaze:
I'm the only person writing content for these two books...
Dave
Posted by: Dave Thomas | December 14, 2007 at 03:34 PM
Skyblaze:
Rails is great and all, but Ruby is a language, and a lot more powerfull than just a framework. I think the timing is just right for this book.
Posted by: MikeBlake | December 14, 2007 at 08:55 PM
Dave -- Great job. I'll purchase any book you write, particularly if it has to do with Ruby -- you have a real knack for creating examples that are simple yet non-trivial.
Posted by: James Earl Anonymous | December 15, 2007 at 03:58 AM
Hi Dave,
just to know, you're making some markups to make life easier to readers of pickaxe 2th edition? something like "hey, I'm changed this", so, if someone already read the 2th edition, he can look just for the "updates" of the 3th :)
Cya
Posted by: Diego Pires Plentz | December 15, 2007 at 08:12 AM
Diego:
If something is new or changed in 1.9, then there's a flag in the margin.
Dave
Posted by: Dave Thomas | December 15, 2007 at 09:03 AM
so will you work in the future on a version 3 of the agile rails book?
Posted by: skyblaze | December 15, 2007 at 07:06 PM
Until 1.9 comes out doesn't make sense to do a new AWDWR since ROR will have to be upgraded again to be compatiable with 1.9. Thanks for the books Dave!
Posted by: JR | December 16, 2007 at 11:42 AM
Reply to R. Elliott Mason - *not* learning is even more expensive ;-)
Posted by: Andy D | December 17, 2007 at 01:56 PM
Excellent! My second edition is getting quite worn around the edges. Perfect timing!
Posted by: Justin | December 17, 2007 at 03:04 PM
I'd like to see more extensive documentation on the standard libraries (i.e those that ship with the language distro).
This is a long standing problem with ruby, and this book, being the de-facto reference for the language, is the right place for this problem to be solved. I know doing that would make the book bigger, but it would be worth it.
Posted by: iggy | December 17, 2007 at 03:23 PM
Hello. I want to own this book. When will it be published?
Posted by: UNIXgod | January 29, 2008 at 02:35 AM
@UNIXgod: it's available in beta now (http://pragprog.com/titles/ruby3). It will be in paper form as son as possible after 1.9 is finalized and stable.
Posted by: Dave Thomas | January 29, 2008 at 07:02 AM
Thank you for the quick reply!
Posted by: UNIXgod | January 30, 2008 at 07:09 PM