From Java to Ruby: Things Every Manager Should Know (Pragmatic Programmers) [Paperback]

Bruce A. Tate (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pragmatic Programmers | Publication Date: June 28, 2006

As a development team, you want to be productive. You want to write flexible, maintainable web applications. You want to use Ruby and Rails. But can you justify the move away from established platforms such as J2EE? Bruce Tate's From Java to Ruby has the answers, and it expresses them in a language that'll help persuade managers and executives who've seen it all. See when and where the switch makes sense, and see how to make it.

If you're trying to adopt Ruby in your organization and need some help, this is the book for you.

Based on a decision tree (a concept familiar to managers and executives,) Java to Ruby stays above the low-level technical debate to examine the real benefits and risks to adoption.

Java to Ruby is packed with interviews of Ruby customers and developers, so you can see what types of projects are likely to succeed, and which ones are likely to fail. Ruby and Rails may be the answer, but first you need to be sure you're asking the right question. By addressing risk and fitness of purpose, Java to Ruby makes sure you're asking the right questions first.

Because technology adoption is only the beginning, Java to Ruby walks you through the whole lifecycle of prototype, ramp up, and production and deployment.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce Tate is a father, kayaker, author and independent consultant in Austin, Tx. The international speaker worked for 13 years at IBM, in roles ranging from a database systems programmer to Java consultant. He left IBM to work for several startups in roles ranging from director to CTO. He now has his own consulting practice, with emphasis on lightweight development in Ruby and Java, and persistence strategies. He is the author of seven books, including the best selling Bitter series, the Jolt-winning Better, Faster, Lighter Java, and the Spring Developer's Notebook.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf (June 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976694093
• ISBN-13: 978-0976694090
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,924,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started in this industry back in 1985, as a co-op with IBM in Austin. I joined IBM full time in 1987, and spent 13 years with them. I later left to join a startup, and ultimately started my own business where I focus on helping customers build software with lightweight technologies.

I've been writing technical books for more than 10 years now, with the last 7 coming since 2000. I write for the love of the craft.

Others have told me that my fundamental strength as an author is the ability to quickly recognize emerging trends. I do tend to find emerging frameworks just as they become popular, and that skill is a mixed blessing that--combined with my complete lack of political tact--gets me in trouble sometimes, as it did with Bitter Java (Java is too hard), Beyond Java (Java is not going to last forever), and most recently, From Java to Ruby: Things Every Manager should Know (there's a better language for some problems, but our managers don't know it yet.)

My promise to you is this: I will always seek to find better ways to do things, and will work hard to tell you the truth, without regard for any notion of political correctness. Thanks for reading.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unbiased , forward thinking, and pragmatic book, July 3, 2006

By 

Carl Graff - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Java to Ruby: Things Every Manager Should Know (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

I have migrated from language to language as the software landscape has changed over the years. Pascal to C to C++ to Foxpro to PowerBuilder to Java and now to Ruby. Can you imagine where I would be at this point in my career if I were trying to develop Web Based Database programs in Turbo Pascal?

It will be almost impossible to convince some Java programmers that Ruby on Rails and LAMP in general is a better platform to do anything compared to Java. After all they have invested *HUGE* in Java and it has and is putting food on their table. But perhpas this is a moot point as I an convinced the latest generation of programmers are embaracing dynamic languages such as Ruby and Python over the older generation languages such as C++ and Java. So it is more of a question of when this will happen then if this will happen.

Bruce has been a strong Java advocate and practitioner for many years, as have many of the most influentual people in the industry from highly respected organizations such Pragmatic Programmer Inc, ThoughtWorks, and O'Reilly. So when they collectively agree that Ruby and RoR is offering huge advantages over Java in many areas it pays to not only listen but give Ruby and Ruby on Rails (Ror) a decent try-out.

I will be shocked if any Java programmer truly investes one month learning Ruby on Rails and still believes it is not a more productive and agile environment. Skimming a book and making a conclusion is a weak argument indeed. In my case it took 6 months to feel comfortable with Java and 3 weeks to feel cofortable with Ruby. I have also trained other employees in both, and the learning ratio for the students was similar. So for new programmers, IMO, Ruby is a no brainer over Java. For experienced Java programmers - well they can continue to live with the pain if they wish.

More to the book:
1. It is geared towards managers and a such is an easy read. Most managers will not even pick up a 500 page book - they just don't have time. This book can be read in a day - I did it.
2. Bruce points out the strenghts and weakness of both Java and Ruby and admits that Ruby is not yet the answer for everything - but points out that it is already a lot better in several areas of development then Java.
3. He addresses risks in great detail, too often not on developers minds, but I guarantee it is on every good manager's mind.
4. He offers advice on how to evaluate Ruby for your organization.
5. He offers praticle steps to safely transition to Ruby and Ruby on Rails and how to get a proper infrastructure set up.

I highly recommend this book to those who want to quickly gain an understanding of why Ruby and RoR may be a good fit for their organization and as a guide to getiing the ball rolling. The investment in this book is he cheapest insurance I can think of to give an organization the right balance between risk and competitive edge for the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the already-convinced, October 27, 2007

By 

D. Breaux - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Java to Ruby: Things Every Manager Should Know (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

Not much objective information, and despite its claims to the contrary, this book really seems to be for those who have already decided to switch to Ruby and just want to convince themselves or someone else. Most of its "evidence" seemed to be anecdotal and personal experience.

Since I hadn't yet decided that I wanted to make that move, I was looking for more objective data. For that reason, I also couldn't get myself to read the second half, which is even more for those who have decided and want to know how to get started.

I think if you fit the target audience, it would be more helpful. Because of this, and because it did make some good points about tradeoffs and trends, I still felt it was a decent book. In fairness, its focus is probably consistent with the title and aim of the book, but I still felt the material had a pretty subjective feel to it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a sales pitch, but a good one, February 14, 2007

By 

Damian Wheeler (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Java to Ruby: Things Every Manager Should Know (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

I picked up this book because it isn't a technical reference or a tutorial. I am a developer, but have the opportunity to drive what technology is used for projects in-house. This book shows where Java (or C or other things) still have advantages over Ruby, but in most cases shows case studies of how Ruby or Rails is introduced into a development environment successfully. It also shows where Ruby is headed and talks about what potential there is for further improvement.
Although it is candid and unbiased, I did still find it a bit preachy in places, but that is basically what marketing is. Still, this is a book that I'm handing around to people in the office as it is easy to digest and will raise awareness of Ruby before we try a pilot.