Want To Learn How To Program in Ruby? Beginning Ruby Was Written For You!

Beginning Ruby (buy it at Amazon.com) is a Ruby programming book aimed at newcomers to the language. It’s written in an instructional format and walks through basic programming concepts through to building Web apps, database apps, networking daemons, and GUI based apps. It’s well suited for someone new to programming as well as experienced developers who are just new to dynamic languages. See the Table of Contents.

Where To Buy

Amazon typically offers the best price for Beginning Ruby. Check it out on Amazon.com (US) or Amazon.co.uk (UK). The book is available in both print and Kindle formats. Alternatively, the publisher, Apress, also has the book for sale at full retail price as well as the e-book/PDF version.

Reviews

Beginning Ruby has 27 5-star reviews over at Amazon.com, but others have been received in third party reviews or by e-mail:

This is not just an introduction to Ruby. Pretty much every technology that is linked to Ruby in some way is discussed [..] The author, Peter Cooper, is obviously a well-rounded Ruby developer, and his enthusiasm for the topic shines through. And with almost twice the number of pages as the other [books] reviewed here, his is easily the best value of the three.
—Andy Hudson, Linux Format

Peter Cooper’s Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional has two audiences, novices with no programming experience who want to learn Ruby as their first programming language, and veterans who want to add Ruby to their programming toolkit. Cooper’s response to this challenge is a solid entry in the limited arena of Ruby tutorials.
—Tim Hunter

This has to be the best book for Ruby beginners, whether it be for scripting or for moving towards Rails. [...] Easily a 9/10 in my eyes…nothing gets the 10 unless it has nudity….and that’s not an invitation Peter.
—Jamie van Dyke

I’ve been reading Beginning Ruby by Peter Cooper. I’m really impressed. [...] [A] great book for a new programmer, or a programmer new to Ruby. It’s a great alternative to the other beginner’s books on Ruby out there.
—Pat Eyler

Both Chris Pine’s book and _why’s guide have their moments, but in my opinion Cooper’s book has a considerable edge in clarity and usefulness. [...] In addition to being a great ruby book, it’s also one of the best “tech” books I’ve ever purchased. It’s rare to see this level of quality in technical writing.
—“Phren0logy” on Amazon.com

I really like Beginning Ruby. I’ve been teaching a Ruby course at CCSF (City College of San Francisco) for the last two years and I’ve used the Pickaxe as the main textbook. It’s a fine book, but it’s a struggle to adapt that knotty mess into a sequence of didactic lessons. Next semester I’m using your book (CS132A) because I feel that you done a great job of organizing the material into teachable chunks. You’ve saved me the agony of writing my own textbook. Nice work.
—Douglas Putnam - Professor of Computer Science, CCSF

Working through the early sections and have really enjoyed the book so far, your description of object orientation is the best I have come across in any book.
—Caoimh O’Broin

The best, and most comprehensive, introduction to Ruby I’ve seen. [...] The text is neither dry nor whimsical, but a perfect blend between reference material and hands-on tutorial. [...] I almost want to buy a second copy out of sheer appreciation for Peter Cooper providing a great guide to a great programming language!
—Zeff Morgan

I think Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional is a better first Ruby book than the venerable Pickaxe. [..] If you want to learn Ruby, Beginning Ruby is the book to buy.
—Larry Wright