Effective Ruby: 48 Specific Ways to Write Better Ruby (Effective Software Development Series) Paperback – Import, 25 September 2014

I've been working with Ruby for more than a decade and I've recently decided to read more about Ruby and get more knowledge about the way the language works and this book seemed fit for this purpose, even if it is slightly dated and covers Ruby 1.9 up to Ruby 2.1.While there are some interesting bits of information, the author seems to have an issue with the way the language is designed, just like another reviewer noticed. One of the interesting things about Ruby is that it allows you to write concise object-oriented code, with a dash of functional programming and books like "Eloquent Ruby" or "The Ruby Way" try to explain the design choices, while "Effective Ruby" dismisses those choices and tries to shoehorn the language into something that the author enjoys more. Looking up Peter J. Jones, it seems like he moved towards other languages (e.g. Haskell) by the time this book was published, which is no surprise.I've been torn between two and three stars because I also have "Effective SQL" which uses nicer and slightly thinner paper. Inspecting the book, I noticed that my copy is "printed in Poland by Amazon Fulfillment" and I also assume there's a printing issue with the code, as all method definitions have a space between the method name and the parenthesis. However, I decided that two stars is a big harsh.Otherwise, if you have some money to spend and you want to improve your programming skills in Ruby, there are better books out there than this one, like "The Ruby Way" by Hal Fulton or "Polished Ruby Programming" by Jeremy Evans.

Great title, but I find this book frustrating to read. For 2 reasons:1. the author seems a little negative about Ruby. Not sure why. It seems he is trying to say that Ruby is full of hidden gotchas and you need his book to understand it? I don't know why, but it's just not as much fun to read as other books (like "Eloquent Ruby" or "Well Grounded Rubyist") where the authors show a definite appreciation for Ruby.2. the material is not as detailed as I would like. I find that I sometimes still have questions after reading sections of this book. (in contrast, I don't have any leftover questions when I finish a chapter of "the Well-Grounded Rubyist").This book is ok, but not excellent. I recommend learning Ruby elsewhere.

Practical tips to help you become a better programmer. Even better if you're using Ruby. :)IMO there is a real void when it comes to books on Ruby programming. ok, I understand the language. But how do I actually write good object-oriented programs using Ruby? This book answers some of those questions. Well worth the cost and the effort to read it. It will stay on my shelf at home as a welcome reference rather than my shelves at work where just anyone could walk off with it. They will just have to buy their own copy.

This book is much like like the books of Scott Meyers on C++, except this is about Ruby. I learned a few particular things I did not know about before, even though I have a lot of experience with Ruby. Not too shabby for a small book.

Awesome book for any Ruby programmer. It goes from very basic until advanced level in a very nice pace (which makes it very easy to read) and it has the bonus of explaining how the GC works and why you should care about it. It changed how I think and write Ruby code on daily basis for sure a must read.