FXRuby: Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby (Pragmatic Programmers) [Paperback]

Lyle Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1934356077 | ISBN-13: 978-1934356074 | Edition: 1

FXRuby is a highly object-oriented toolkit for building lean, mean, cross-platform graphical user interfaces in Ruby. Since its initial release in 2001, FXRuby has become one of the most popular GUI choices for Ruby developers. This book is your best resource for rapidly learning how to develop powerful, sophisticated GUIs in your favorite programming language.

If you're a newcomer to GUI programming, this book will introduce you to the basics of FXRuby programming by leading you through building a GUI application with FXRuby from start to finish. If you're an experienced software developer who just needs to get up to speed on FXRuby and what it can do for you, this book will help you put FXRuby to work in your Ruby-based applications. Along the way, you'll learn how to leverage FXRuby's vast collection of user interface elements to build visually rich user interfaces. You'll see how FXRuby uses the concept of sending messages between objects to implement event-driven applications, and how you can most effectively use layout managers to construct flexible user interfaces.

Go beyond the basics with proven, practical knowledge and techniques for developing real-world GUI programs in Ruby.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lyle Johnson is the lead developer of FXRuby, one of the most popular graphical user interface libraries for the Ruby programming language. An active participant in the Ruby programming community since 2000, he also co-authored the Ruby Developer's Guide, one of the first English-language books about Ruby. For the past fifteen years, he's developed software applications for a variety of industries, including engineering modeling and simulation, biotechnology and computer network defense.Lyle is currently a Senior Analyst with Sentar, Inc., where he conducts research and development in the application of knowledge based systems to the problems of decision-making and situational awareness in highly dynamic environments. He lives in Madison, Alabama with his wife Denise and their cat Oscar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf; 1 edition (April 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934356077
• ISBN-13: 978-1934356074
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,088,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction To Ruby GUIs, May 29, 2008

By 

Daniel McKinnon "Dan" (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: FXRuby: Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

'FXRuby: Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby' is a nice introduction to creating GUIs with Ruby. The content is straight and to the point filled with no frills information. Data is spread over 14 chapters and the writing is concise. My only complaints are that I feel this book is too short at just over 200 pages and I wish there was color within. Having said that, I feel this is a good resource for Ruby developers who need to learn how to work with and create GUIs in one of the hottest new technologies to come about in some time (Ruby).

**** RECOMMENDED

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to a solid library, April 30, 2008

By 

Brian Wisti (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FXRuby: Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

GUI programming tends to get ignored when people talk about Ruby. That's a shame, because there are some excellent GUI libraries available for the language. FXRuby has been around for several years and it is probably the most mature. Lyle Johnson, the author of this book, is also the primary maintainer for FXRuby. He is always very helpful in the support mailing lists, and his approachable friendly manner shines through in this book. It's a great introduction, building progressively more complicated applications as you establish a more solid foundation of experience using the library. You'll definitely be ready to use FXRuby in your own apps by the time you're finished with the book, and you'll be hungry to learn more if you're anything like me.

I would have liked to see more about using OpenGL from FXRuby, but it might have made the book unnecessarily cumbersome. It would be nice to see a dedicated library reference someday. Then again, the online RDocs will probably always be the best reference.