Table of Contents

Foreword xix

Preface xxi

Acknowledgments xxv

About the Author xxvii

PART I: The Basics 1

Chapter 1: Write Code That Looks Like Ruby 3

The Very Basic Basics 4

Go Easy on the Comments 6

Camels for Classes, Snakes Everywhere Else 8

Parentheses Are Optional but Are Occasionally Forbidden 9

Folding Up Those Lines 10

Folding Up Those Code Blocks 11

Staying Out of Trouble 12

In the Wild 13

Wrapping Up 15

Chapter 2: Choose the Right Control Structure 17

If, Unless, While, and Until 17

Use the Modifier Forms Where Appropriate 19

Use each, Not for 20

A Case of Programming Logic 21

Staying Out of Trouble 23

In the Wild 25

Wrapping Up 27

Chapter 3: Take Advantage of Ruby’s Smart Collections 29

Literal Shortcuts 29

Instant Arrays and Hashes from Method Calls 30

Running Through Your Collection 33

Beware the Bang! 36

Rely on the Order of Your Hashes 38

In the Wild 38

Staying Out of Trouble 40

Wrapping Up 42

Chapter 4: Take Advantage of Ruby’s Smart Strings 43

Coming Up with a String 44

Another API to Master 47

The String: A Place for Your Lines, Characters, and Bytes 49

In the Wild 50

Staying Out of Trouble 51

Wrapping Up 52

About the Author

Russ Olsen’s career spans three decades, during which he has written everything from graphics device drivers to document management applications. These days, he diligently codes GIS, web service security, and process automation solutions. He spends much of his otherwise free time writing and speaking about programming, especially Ruby and Clojure. His first book was the highly regarded Design Patterns In Ruby (Addison-Wesley, 2007). He is also the lurking presence behind the Technology As If People Mattered blog at www.russolsen.com.

Reviews

R>Eloquent Ruby is like programming in Ruby itself: fun, surprisingly deep, and you'll find yourself wishing it was always done this way. Wherever you are in your Ruby experience from novice to Rails developer, this book is a must read.