Learn to Program, Second Edition (The Facets of Ruby Series)

Price: $24.95 - $20.42
(as of May 30, 2024 19:51:35 UTC – Details)

Printed in full color.

For this new edition of the best-selling Learn to Program, Chris Pine has taken a good thing and made it even better. First, he used the feedback from hundreds of reader e-mails to update the content and make it even clearer. Second, he updated the examples in the book to use the latest stable version of Ruby, and also to use code that looks more like real-world Ruby code, so that people who have just learned to program will be more familiar with common Ruby techniques.

Not only does the Second Edition now include answers to all of the exercises, it includes them twice. First you’ll find the “how you could do it” answers, using the techniques you’ve learned up to that point in the book. Next you’ll see “how Chris Pine would do it”: answers using more advanced Ruby techniques, to whet your appetite as well as providing sort of a “Rosetta Stone” for more elegant solutions.

Computers are everywhere, on every desk, in your iPod, cell phone, and PDA. To live well in the 21st century, you need to know how to make computers do things. And to really make computers do what you want, you have to learn to program.

Fortunately, that’s easier now than ever before. Chris Pine’s book will teach you how to program. You’ll learn to use your computer better, to get it to do what you want it to do. Starting with small, simple one-line programs to calculate your age in seconds, you’ll see how to advance to fully structured, real programs. You’ll learn the same technology used to drive modern dynamic websites and large, professional applications.

It’s now easier to learn to write your own computer software than it has ever been before. Now everyone can learn to write programs for themselves—no previous experience is necessary. Chris takes a thorough, but light-hearted approach that teaches you how to program with a minimum of fuss or bother.

Printed in full color.

From the Publisher

What Is Programming?

Programming is telling your computer how to do something. Large tasks must be broken up into smaller tasks, which must be broken up into still smaller tasks, down until you get to the most basic tasks that you don’t have to describe—the tasks your computer already knows how to do.

You’ll learn first about those basic things your computer can do (a few of them) and then find some simple tasks that can be broken down into a few of these basic things. Your first program will be so easy that it won’t even take you a minute.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pragmatic Bookshelf; 2nd edition (May 5, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 194 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1934356360
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934356364
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches