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Learn Ruby the Hard Way: A Simple and Idiomatic Introduction to the Imaginative World Of Computational Thinking with Code (Zed Shaw's Hard Way Series) 3rd Edition

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 63 ratings

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You Will Learn Ruby!

Zed Shaw has perfected the world’s best system for learning Ruby. Follow it and you will succeed–just like the hundreds of thousands of beginners Zed has taught to date! You bring the discipline, commitment, and persistence; the author supplies everything else.

In Learn Ruby the Hard Way, Third Edition, you’ll learn Ruby by working through 52 brilliantly crafted exercises. Read them. Type their code precisely. (No copying and pasting!) Fix your mistakes. Watch the programs run. As you do, you’ll learn how software works; what good programs look like; how to read, write, and think about code; and how to find and fix your mistakes using tricks professional programmers use. Most importantly, you’ll learn the following, which you need to start writing excellent Ruby software of your own:

• Installing your Ruby environment

• Organizing and writing code

• Ruby symbols and keywords

• Basic mathematics

• Variables and printing

• Strings and text

• Interacting with users

• Working with files

• Using and creating functions

• Looping and logic

• Arrays and elements

• Hashmaps

• Program design

• Object-oriented programming

• Inheritance and composition

• Modules, classes, and objects

• Project “skeleton” directories

• Debugging and automated testing

• Advanced user input

• Text processing

• Basic game development

• Basic web development

It’ll Be Hard At First. But Soon, You’ll Just Get It–And That Will Feel Great!

This tutorial will reward you for every minute you put into it. Soon, you’ll know one of the world’s most powerful, popular programming languages. You’ll be a Ruby programmer.

Watch Zed, too! The accompanying DVD contains 5+ hours of passionate, powerful teaching: a complete Ruby video course!

Zed Shaw is an avid guitar player, programmer, and writer whose books teach people all over the world how to write software. His book Learn Python the Hard Way has been read by millions of people around the world. His software has been used by many large and small companies. His essays are often quoted and read by members of many geek communities. He is an entertaining and lively writer, who is sure to keep you laughing and make you think.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zed Shaw is an avid guitar player, programmer, and writer whose books teach people all over the world how to write software. His book Learn Python the Hard Way has been read by millions of people around the world. His software has been used by many large and small companies. His essays are often quoted and read by members of many geek communities. He is an entertaining and lively writer, who is sure to keep you laughing and make you think.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Addison-Wesley Professional; 3rd edition (December 7, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 032188499X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0321884992
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.24 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.9 x 1 x 8.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 63 ratings

About the author

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Zed Shaw
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Zed Shaw is an avid guitar player, programmer, and writer whose books teach people all over the world how to write software. His book Learn Python the Hard Way has been read by millions of people around the world. His software has been used by many large and small companies. His essays are often quoted and read by members of many geek communities. He is an entertaining and lively writer, who is sure to keep you laughing and make you think.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
63 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2015
    This book is great. I'm doing everything Zed suggests and it takes the time it takes. I've tried several other books and online resources, including videos at coding schools, and this one is the best I have found. It feels like a thorough foundation in the basics of Ruby, but since I'm a beginner, I can only speak at my level of expertise at the moment. Zed is a great teacher. Learning the basics of any complex pursuit can be inherently tedious, but Zed's humor and empathy help you stick with it. I highly recommend buying this book.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2015
    I've found Zed's LRTHW book to be a great stepping stone into programming and feel that it truly offered me a better understanding Ruby than some of the online tutorials I'd gone through previously. I came to this book after completing some online courses that were essentially "here's something, copy it, hit submit, wasn't that cool!" and even going through most of the books companion site. I found the videos quite helpful for the later chapters, and I really appreciate the authors honesty in many sections of the book. Overall LRTHW is a really great introduction to the Ruby programming language, and I only wish that the book itself would have delved into some more advanced topics in the later chapters or offered another project on top of the Sinatra web-app (a fun little text adventure game) that you build and refactor over the last few chapters.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014
    So Far So Good. I have read Learn Python the Hard way few month ago. It was absolutely best way to get started. Stick with thhis book and you will get there. I started this book few days ago, I will keep this comment updated with my experience and thoughts.
    8 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2018
    Love the book. Been really trying to get into programming again and ruby was one language I wanted to learn still going through the chapters but love it
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2019
    The book basically goes like this: 1. Type exactly what I typed and run it. 2. If you don't understand what I did, google it and find out. That's really what he says.

    Also, the author assures you that you can reach out to him for questions, which I did, but of course got no response. And the publisher's site doesn't let you contact them either.

    Any other book on the subject would be better.
    26 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2016
    Weren't kidding about the hard way haha. But seriously is handy to help me get started learning. If ever stuck just go on youtube and like it up. It has easy fixes.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2015
    I am finding it pretty useful for learning Ruby. In fact, he's succeeded in getting me to finally start to grasp OOP. But, it's riddled with typos and misprints which can make following confusing. I'm only 2/3 finished. I'll update my rating when I finish reading it completely.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2016
    I really like Zed Shaw's writing style and the way he teaches programming.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Kevin D
    4.0 out of 5 stars Would recommend for a novice coder
    Reviewed in Canada on February 3, 2018
    Great book for the novice coder, Learned a lot from Zed and hos humour and odd curse kept me listening / watching. Only complaint was the amount of fluff in the code we were writing for the choose your own adventure model, wish he used a different project to work on.
  • Pseu D. Onym
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wer frei von Eitelkeit ist und es schafft, Zed zu vertrauen, ....
    Reviewed in Germany on July 31, 2017
    ...der wird mit einem überaus wirksamen Kurs belohnt, der didaktisch sehr gut aufgebaut ist und von Anfang an stark auf Eigeninitiative setzt. Man sollte sich an alle Anweisungen des Autors halten - der Mann weiß, was er tut, um dem Lernenden dabei zu helfen, die Inhalte nicht nur zu vermitteln, sondern sie auch gleich gut zu festigen.
  • Emm. R.
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is a very good book for someone without prior experience in Ruby and ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2018
    This is a very good book for someone without prior experience in Ruby and in programming in general. It will help the absolute beginner to get familiar with the language and how to use basic structures.
  • Wako
    1.0 out of 5 stars Pésimo
    Reviewed in Mexico on February 6, 2017
    Este libro trata de ser una introducción a la programación a través de Ruby; un lenguaje multiparadigma que cubre la Programación Orientada a Objetos, pero que falla de manera catastrófica al serlo.

    La mayor parte del código no es claro, no está comentado, no hay una explicación del porque hace tal cosa y utiliza funciones que el autor no explica. En estos casos el autor pide al lector buscar en Internet toda esta información, pero si compras un libro de programación supones que el libro contiene una explicación de las cosas, no una lista de palabras desconocidas que tienes que buscar en Internet y aprender a utilizar por tu cuenta.

    El autor expone varias veces que la Programación Orientada a Objetos se le hace algo muy "extraño" y admite que es algo que no domina (Ruby es un lenguaje orientado a objetos), el código y sus explicaciones sobre clases y objetos no son claras y pide que el lector busque en Internet toda la información. Para una persona que nunca ha programado se le hará extremadamente difícil seguir estos capítulos del libro, pero si tienes un poco de experiencia con un lenguaje como C++ lo tendrás un poco más fácil, ya que entiendes lo que es un constructor, destructor, herencia y polimorfismo, lo que el autor no explica en su libro, pero utiliza algunas de estas propiedades en sus ejemplos.

    Citando unas partes del libro:
    "WARNING! Programmers will tell you to read this guy named "Dijkstra" on this subject. I recommend you avoid his writings on this unless you enjoy being yelled at by someone who stopped programming at the same time programming started."
    Si no sabes quien es Dijkstra busca su artículo en Wikipedia.
    "My problem is that Object-Oriented Programming (OPP) is just plain weird."

    Si eres una persona la cual nunca ha programado en toda su vida o quiere una introducción a Ruby te recomiendo buscar información en Internet (Algo que tendrás que hacer si compras este libro), buscar otro libro o leer este libro en línea de manera gratuita.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Random Dude
    2.0 out of 5 stars Not new
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2021
    Ordered and paid for "New" and got book with stain on corner and sections in the first 30% have been highlighted. Not even close to "New".