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Looking for book reviewers

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Dave Thomas

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Oct 4, 2005, 12:27:48 PM10/4/05
to
Hi, all.

Chris Pine is just finishing off the first draft of his "Learn to
Program with Ruby" book (based on his incredibly successful web
series), and I'm looking for reviewers.

However, before you all rush to sign up, there's a catch. I'm really
looking for folks who are the book's target audience: folks with
little or no programming experience who want to learn how to code.
They'll probably be from mid teens on up, curious, and happy to give
honest feedback as they go through the book.

So, if you know someone like that, and if they'd be interested in
participating, have them drop me a line (da...@pragprog.com).

Thanks a lot


Dave


pat eyler

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Oct 4, 2005, 12:50:53 PM10/4/05
to
Dave,
I think I sort of fit this. My 11.5 y.o. son is ready to step past HTML,
and I've been wondering how to get him going with Ruby (we've already
had a couple of discussions and he seems to 'get it'). I'd love to work
with him on Chris' book.

Of course, if this doesn't fit your model, we'll just have to buy a copy when
it comes out.

-pate


--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------


pat eyler

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Oct 4, 2005, 12:51:42 PM10/4/05
to
doh! I hate hitting the send button before adjusting the To: line.


--
thanks,
-pate
-------------------------


Dave Thomas

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Oct 4, 2005, 1:00:33 PM10/4/05
to

On Oct 4, 2005, at 11:27 AM, Dave Thomas wrote:

>
> However, before you all rush to sign up, there's a catch. I'm
> really looking for folks who are the book's target audience: folks
> with little or no programming experience who want to learn how to
> code. They'll probably be from mid teens on up, curious, and happy
> to give honest feedback as they go through the book.

Oh, one more thing just occurred to me. If you're nominating someone
under 13, please don't have them e-mail me directly. Instead, I'll
need a parent or guardian to make the introduction.


Thanks


Dave


Ryan Leavengood

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Oct 4, 2005, 1:03:46 PM10/4/05
to
On 10/4/05, pat eyler <pat....@gmail.com> wrote:
> doh! I hate hitting the send button before adjusting the To: line.

I personally liked hearing about a young potential new Rubyist.
Starting at 11 he could be quite a formidable Ruby programmer by the
time he graduated high school.

Ryan


Ron M

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Oct 4, 2005, 1:56:10 PM10/4/05
to
When I try to define this function with a syntax error in
the regular expression, ruby sometimes segfaults.
I'm using "ruby 1.8.3 (2005-05-12) [i686-linux]".

The obvious/easy workaround is to not have the syntax
error in the regexp :-) but I just figured I'd report
the less than perfect failure mode.

====================================================================================
irb(main):012:0*
irb(main):013:0*
irb(main):014:0* def ascleanstr(v)
(v.class==String && v=~/\A\s*\Z/) ? nil :
(v.class==Array && v[0].class==Fixnum) ? v.pack("C*").unpack("H*")[0] :
v = v.to_s.strip.gsub(/\r/,"")
v =~ v.length>3 && /\A[A-Z\#0-9 _\t\-\/(\)]*\Z\/ ?
v.split(/[\t _]+/).map{|w| w=~/\d/ ? w : w.capitalize}.join(" ") :
v
end

irb(main):015:1> irb(main):016:1* irb(main):017:1* irb(main):018:1> irb(main):019:1/ irb(main):020:0* (irb):19: warning: invalid character syntax; use ?\\
s
SyntaxError: compile error
(irb):19: premature end of regular expression: /\A[A-Z\#0-9 _\t\-\/(\)]*\Z\/ ?
v.split(/
(irb):19: syntax error
v.split(/[\t _]+/).map{|w| w=~/\d/ ? w : w.capitalize}.join(" ") :
^
(irb):19: unmatched ): /).map{|w| w=~/
(irb):19: syntax error
v.split(/[\t _]+/).map{|w| w=~/\d/ ? w : w.capitalize}.join(" ") :
^
(irb):19: syntax error
v.split(/[\t _]+/).map{|w| w=~/\d/ ? w : w.capitalize}.join(" ") :
^
(irb):19: syntax error
from (irb):20
from ^C:0
irb(main):021:0> SyntaxError: compile error
(irb):21: syntax error
from (irb):21
from ^C:0
irb(main):022:0> irb(main):023:0* def ascleanstr(v)
(v.class==String && v=~/\A\s*\Z/) ? nil :
(v.class==Array && v[0].class==Fixnum) ? v.pack("C*").unpack("H*")[0] :
v = v.to_s.strip.gsub(/\r/,"")
v =~ v.length>3 && /\A[A-Z\#0-9 _\t\-\/(\)]*\Z\/ ?
v.split(/[\t _]+/).map{|w| w=~/\d/ ? w : w.capitalize}.join(" ") :
v
end

free(): invalid pointer 0x8186ac0!
free(): invalid pointer 0x817a7d0!
free(): invalid pointer 0x8182bf8!
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:285: [BUG] Segmentation fault
ruby 1.8.3 (2005-05-12) [i686-linux]

Abort
greenie import/denton> ruby -version
ruby 1.8.3 (2005-05-12) [i686-linux]
-e:1: undefined local variable or method `rsion' for main:Object (NameError)
greenie import/denton>


Peña, Botp

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Oct 4, 2005, 9:19:00 PM10/4/05
to
Dave Thomas [mailto:da...@pragprog.com] wrote:

#> However, before you all rush to sign up, there's a catch. I'm
#> really looking for folks who are the book's target audience: folks
#> with little or no programming experience who want to learn how to
#> code. They'll probably be from mid teens on up, curious, and happy
#> to give honest feedback as they go through the book.
#
#Oh, one more thing just occurred to me. If you're nominating someone
#under 13, please don't have them e-mail me directly. Instead, I'll
#need a parent or guardian to make the introduction.

fwiw, i myself have a kid whom i want to learn ruby. He is 13 and loves to do html stuff mainly because he can see graphic results immediately, in other words, he loves to show his stuff to his classmates and friends. These kids are very restless, and i have come to the point of surrender and to wait till they "grow" up.

So my q: does the book also cater/target to these type of kids? If yes, i'm willing to participate (btw, how much is the book?).

Thanks always and kind regards -botp


#Dave
#
#


Tom Cloyd

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Oct 5, 2005, 1:26:33 AM10/5/05
to
You can find Dave (?) Pine's Ruby book online (Google those words). It's
very readable, and kid-friendly. Heck, I even learned from it, and I'm
waaaay past "kid". -t.

On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:19:00 -0700, Peña, Botp <bo...@delmonte-phil.com>
wrote:

--

======================================================
Tom Cloyd, MS MA, LMHC
Private practice Psychotherapist
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A: (360) 920-1226
<< BestMindHealth.com / t...@bestmindhealth.com >>
======================================================

Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client (program):
http://www.opera.com/mail/


Rich Morin

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Oct 5, 2005, 1:56:02 AM10/5/05
to
At 2:26 PM +0900 10/5/05, Tom Cloyd wrote:
>You can find Dave (?) Pine's Ruby book online (Google those words).

Is this it?

http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram

-r
--
email: r...@cfcl.com; phone: +1 650-873-7841
http://www.cfcl.com - Canta Forda Computer Laboratory
http://www.cfcl.com/Meta - The FreeBSD Browser, Meta Project, etc.


Dirk Meijer

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Oct 5, 2005, 2:01:34 AM10/5/05
to
i'll be willing to review it,
Ruby is my first actual programming language (apart from some BASIC
languages) and i really enjoyed reading Programming Ruby and Why The Lucky
Stiff.. whatever that was called (very enjoyable :P)
i'm 16 y/o.
greetings, Dirk.

2005/10/5, Rich Morin <r...@cfcl.com>:


>
> At 2:26 PM +0900 10/5/05, Tom Cloyd wrote:

> >You can find Dave (?) Pine's Ruby book online (Google those words).
>

Dick Davies

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Oct 5, 2005, 5:19:02 AM10/5/05
to
On 05/10/05, Tom Cloyd <tomc...@bestmindhealth.com> wrote:
> You can find Dave (?) Pine's Ruby book online (Google those words). It's
> very readable, and kid-friendly. Heck, I even learned from it, and I'm
> waaaay past "kid". -t.


Chris Pine? He's the guy Dave (T) is talking about :)

--
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns


Chris Pine

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Oct 9, 2005, 7:49:17 PM10/9/05
to
Very sorry! I responded to this right away, but from the wrong email
address, so ruby-talk didn't post it and sent me an email telling me
so... but my spam filter grabbed that one...

anyway, what I said was:

----

On 10/5/05, Peña, Botp <bo...@delmonte-phil.com> wrote:
> So my q: does the book also cater/target to these type of kids?
> If yes, i'm willing to participate

It doesn't specifically cater to kids/teens, though they were
definitely in mind as I was writing this book. There are lots of
example programs (most of them short) and managable exercises, so it's
very much a "hands on" style of learning.


> (btw, how much is the book?).

You'd think I would know... but I don't. (You see, I don't think I
have to pay for a copy!)

:)

Chris


Chris Pine

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Oct 9, 2005, 7:50:08 PM10/9/05
to
On 10/5/05, Rich Morin <r...@cfcl.com> wrote:
> At 2:26 PM +0900 10/5/05, Tom Cloyd wrote:
> >You can find Dave (?) Pine's Ruby book online (Google those words).

Chris Pine. (Though David is my middle name... I have *no* idea how
you would know that.)

That is my tutorial, which will remain online, but it is not an
"online version" of the book. They do share material, but the book is
longer, covers more, goes more in-depth on the tougher sections (based
on feedback from the tutorial)... and is just better written! (If not
now, then it will be after it gets past the reviewers. :)

Cheers,

Chris


rwes...@gmail.com

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Oct 14, 2005, 9:31:31 AM10/14/05
to
I think you're talking about me! Ruby is my first programing language
ever. My boyfriend is a programmer-type, and when I showed an interest
he pointed me towards Chris Pine's tutorial online. I haven't done much
lately, as I'm back at school, but I keep meaning to, and this would be
a good reason to get back to it.

nobu....@softhome.net

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Oct 14, 2005, 10:25:59 AM10/14/05
to
Hi,

I've missed your article until it'd happend to be discovered,
because you posted it as a reply to an unrelated thread.

At Wed, 5 Oct 2005 02:56:10 +0900,
Ron M wrote in [ruby-talk:159019]:


> When I try to define this function with a syntax error in
> the regular expression, ruby sometimes segfaults.
> I'm using "ruby 1.8.3 (2005-05-12) [i686-linux]".

It might be:

date: 2005-05-23 12:24:28 +0900; author: matz; state: Exp; lines: +2 -1
* re.c (make_regexp): should not return junk address during
compile time. [ruby-dev:26206]

--
Nobu Nakada


bill...@gmail.com

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Oct 18, 2005, 3:46:34 AM10/18/05
to
Hi Dave,

I picked up the Pragmatic Programmer some years ago simply because it
had a wood plane on the cover( I knew how to use a tablesaw and a
router well before a debugger). I now manage a team of 6 rookie
programmers who I have run through a course that I based on the
Pragmatic Programmer.

I've been using Ruby more and more for daily tasks (replacing Perl) and
have been, in general, working to get it more accepted and used where I
work.

While most on my team may now claim having 6-9 months of "real"
experience, they are still pretty young, so we might be a good
candidate group for you. If you're going for the level of the
Deitel&Deitel books ( C How to Program, etc ), while excellent
books!!!, that is definately more elementary than where we're at. If
that's the case you could kick us a Rails book though. I would bet that
one in our office would get 10 more bought in a hand full of months.

I'd also be more than happy to subject my team to any type of
ruby/rails experiment that we could dream up. Maybe something like
subject 6 rookie programmers to a new language and then get their take
on how they felt about it.

We're the content engineering team at simplyhired.com.

cheers,
Daniel

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