For the past few years I've heard my brother (and a few other computer scientists) rave about this language they started using called Ruby, and I figured it was time to check it out. There are a number of advantages to using Ruby that I've heard. For one, almost the entire language is written in Ruby itself (except for a small portion done in C). Honestly I'm not exactly sure why this is so great, but it's what the experts say so I assume it's a benefit. It also reads a lot more like english and is easier to look at and understand. So I went to the ruby website: www.ruby-lang.org and got my feet a little wet.
There are a few ways of getting introduced to Ruby on the website. You can try out the language in your browser without having to install or download anything. It's a great tutorial and is really targeted at people who do not have a whole lot of experience coding. There is a "terminal-like" window on right half of the screen and instructions on the left half. There are commands available to use: "help" starts the tutorial, "next" jumps to the next lesson in the tutorial and "back" goes back to the previous lesson. In the instructions there are explanations of different computer science concepts (what variables, strings, lists, ect. are) and how to use/manipulate them within Ruby. The tutorial is really user friendly and even makes it's way up to creating your own methods.
The other tutorial follows a similar way of explaining Ruby except you need to have Terminal (if you're using mac OS X) to do all the coding. I preferred this way a little more because it went a little quicker and I felt I learned more through it. My biggest problem with the browser tutorial was that it almost felt more like a simulation of what it is like to code in Ruby where as the tutorial I did using Terminal felt more real.
I do have to say, from the small glimpse that I did get of Ruby I like what I see. I'm still not really comfortable with the language yet, but it's definitely something I want to play around with a little more. I would recommend trying it out if your looking for a new language to learn.
So long for now!
There are a few ways of getting introduced to Ruby on the website. You can try out the language in your browser without having to install or download anything. It's a great tutorial and is really targeted at people who do not have a whole lot of experience coding. There is a "terminal-like" window on right half of the screen and instructions on the left half. There are commands available to use: "help" starts the tutorial, "next" jumps to the next lesson in the tutorial and "back" goes back to the previous lesson. In the instructions there are explanations of different computer science concepts (what variables, strings, lists, ect. are) and how to use/manipulate them within Ruby. The tutorial is really user friendly and even makes it's way up to creating your own methods.
The other tutorial follows a similar way of explaining Ruby except you need to have Terminal (if you're using mac OS X) to do all the coding. I preferred this way a little more because it went a little quicker and I felt I learned more through it. My biggest problem with the browser tutorial was that it almost felt more like a simulation of what it is like to code in Ruby where as the tutorial I did using Terminal felt more real.
I do have to say, from the small glimpse that I did get of Ruby I like what I see. I'm still not really comfortable with the language yet, but it's definitely something I want to play around with a little more. I would recommend trying it out if your looking for a new language to learn.
So long for now!