The path to a stable Ruby 1.9 has been long. Almost a year ago, 1.9.0 was released. This turned out to have been less than stable. The core library has grown by many hundreds of methods since then. And, probably more significantly, people have started using 1.9 for real, and they've discovered rough edges that needed to be fixed. In particular, the multinationalization support, which is incredibly ambitious, turned out to be hard to use for library writers. James Edward Gray II was probably the first to bump into this as he updated his FasterCSV library (now part of core Ruby) to handle any encoding supported by Ruby. His problems lead to a lot of discussion, and eventually to an entirely new concept inside the interpreter. And as a result, the core team have decided to slip the release of 1.9.1 by at least a month while they investigate other encoding-related issues lurking in the libraries.
In the meantime, a 1.9.1 preview has been released. Details are
here.
If you are the maintainer for any publicly available Ruby code (be it a Gem, an application, or whatever) I strongly urge you to download this preview. You'll be doing the community a great service in two ways. First, the various incompatibilities between 1.9 and 1.8 mean that there's a chance that your code may not work without some tweaks. Making those changes now will help others using your code. As importantly, by using 1.9.1 for real, with real code, you'll potentially discover other rough edges. Reporting these back through ruby-core or RedMine will help the Ruby developers further hone the interpreter.
Now, all this delay leaves me with a problem. The new 1.9-specific PickAxe is now content complete. Some people have been waiting for it for 10 months. And I have to decide: should I hold on for the official 1.9.1 release (which will be, at the earliest, at the end of January 2009) or should I send it to the printers? Let me know what you think.
I think the PDF book suffices until you're ready to send the paper book to the printers. I'm fine with waiting. I'm not even sure why I order the dead-tree versions anymore. I use the PDF versions for everything. Must be nostalgia.
Posted by: Ryan McGeary | October 28, 2008 at 09:54 AM
I think you should wait for the printed book. I'm fine with the pdf version.
Posted by: Michael Penrow | October 28, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Please be patient and wait. We need an authoritative version that will last years. We have all been waiting, but we will wait longer.
p.s. in the meantime you can re-read K&R's C Programming Language for additional inspiration. ;-)
Posted by: peterb | October 28, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Considering Ruby's past release complications I'd suggest acting conservatively and holding off until a known-good is in the wild.
Posted by: Darrin Eden | October 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
I've ordered the beta book when it came out. I think it's not a problem to wait for a complete version of the paper book. I think it is better to wait a month and have a complete book on ruby 1.9.
Posted by: Oscar Del Ben | October 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Wait and be definitive, especially since the PDF is available and useful today.
My Programming Ruby 2nd edition is dirty and dog-eared from much use. I'd like to never hesitate to grab the 3rd edition off the shelf, too.
Posted by: Jim Lindley | October 28, 2008 at 10:32 AM
I'd definitely rather wait until 1.9.1 is out.
Posted by: Ant Ramm | October 28, 2008 at 10:38 AM
While I don't how much the coming standard library changes will impact your book, I agree, it's best to wait, at least until the RC. Since we have the PDF already, it's really no problem.
Posted by: Nathan Youngman | October 28, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Hi, I've ordered the PDF/Paper-Combo and will happily wait for an version of the paper book which incorporates 1.9.1.
Posted by: Dominik Maehl | October 28, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Another +1 for waiting.
Posted by: Chris McGrath | October 28, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Wait to paper publish.
Posted by: Bil Kleb | October 28, 2008 at 12:21 PM
I agree, please incorporate the latest changes into the book.
Posted by: Mike Oligny | October 28, 2008 at 01:34 PM
Like others I'd rather see a printed version that really matches the final version of 1.9.1 and am entirely peased with the PDF for now.
Posted by: Stephan | October 28, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Yup, wait... for now the PDF is fine.
Posted by: Patrick | October 28, 2008 at 04:12 PM
I think you should wait for the printed book, too.
Posted by: Diego Plentz | October 28, 2008 at 05:29 PM
Please hold on. A few more weeks won't matter.
Posted by: Observer | October 28, 2008 at 06:00 PM
Personally I do not care about the PDF. I hate to read books in front of a computer. I am really much more a "book" guy so the printed version is what interests me more personally, and I have no problem at all to wait. ;)
Posted by: mark | October 28, 2008 at 06:21 PM
I have the PDF and I support a Ruby extension. I agree with everybody else that it's best to wait.
Posted by: Tim Hunter | October 28, 2008 at 07:41 PM
Please wait until Ruby 1.9.1-final comes out, and perhaps keep waiting for a bit afterward to make sure it stays final.
I am using the PDF with an ebook reader, but (1) I don't want people learning the wrong things and writing bad code and (2) I think you'll lose some motivation once the printed version comes out :)
Thanks for the awesomeness and patience! I'm sure that waiting so long to release this book hasn't been easy!
Posted by: Victor Costan | October 28, 2008 at 08:18 PM
I suggest you hold a little more so the book will live longer.
Posted by: Hugo | October 28, 2008 at 09:17 PM
Another vote to wait.
Posted by: Verbus Counts | October 28, 2008 at 09:43 PM
I add my vote to the "wait" camp. I think having a book with 1.9.1 in it will be much more beneficial. The PDF has been working nicely so far.
Maybe the extra time could be used for another screen cast or two :)
Keep up the great work!
Posted by: DrMark | October 28, 2008 at 11:00 PM
I am fine with waiting for 1.9.1 changes (even in the printed book). Reasons are simple:
- PDF might be easily updated and regenerated
- but to have a book which is outdated almost from the first date...
- and 1.9.1 (hope) would be a major thing for at least a year
Posted by: A_V_I | October 29, 2008 at 01:16 AM
I agree with many others on waiting until 1.9.1 will be final an released.
Posted by: Markus Jais | October 29, 2008 at 05:50 AM
I agree that we should wait. I think O'Reilly showed how important this is with their very premature release of The Ruby Programming Language.
Posted by: James Edward Gray II | October 29, 2008 at 08:23 AM