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Metaprogramming Ruby: Program Like the Ruby Pros
 
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Metaprogramming Ruby: Program Like the Ruby Pros [Paperback]

Paolo Perrotta (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 22, 2010 1934356476 978-1934356470 1

Everyone in the Ruby world seems to be talking about metaprogramming--how you can use it to remove duplication in your code and write elegant, beautiful programs. Now you can get in on the action as well.

This book describes metaprogramming as an essential component of Ruby. Once you understand the principles of Ruby, including the object model, scopes, and eigenclasses, you're on your way to applying metaprogramming both in your daily work and in your fun, after-hours projects.

Learning metaprogramming doesn't have to be difficult or boring. By taking you on a Monday-through-Friday workweek adventure with a pair of programmers, Paolo Perrotta helps make mastering the art of metaprogramming both straightforward and entertaining.

The book is packed with:

Pragmatic examples of metaprogramming in action, many of which come straight from popular libraries or frameworks, such as Rails. Programming challenges that let you experiment and play with some of the most fun, "out-there" metaprogramming concepts. Metaprogramming spells--34 practical recipes and idioms that you can study and apply right now, to write code that is sure to impress.

Whether you're a Ruby apprentice on the path to mastering the language or a Ruby wiz in search of new tips, this book is for you.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paolo Perrotta has more than ten years of experience as a developer and writer. He worked for domains ranging from embedded to enterprise software, computer games, and web applications. These days, Paolo coaches agile teams for Yoox, a large Internet fashion shop, and teaches Java to developers throughout Europe. He lives in Bologna, Italy, with his girlfriend and a cat. He loves Ruby.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 296 pages
  • Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf; 1 edition (February 22, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1934356476
  • ISBN-13: 978-1934356470
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paolo Perrotta has more than twelve years of experience as a developer and writer. He worked for domains ranging from embedded to enterprise software, computer games, and web applications. These days, Paolo works for agile42, coaching agile teams throughout Europe. He has a basecamp in Bologna, Italy. He loves Ruby.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read quite a few Ruby books and this is one of the best. The author very effectively does a number of things in this book:

i) Highlights the conceptual differences between Ruby and other currently popular languages

ii) Shows how those conceptual differences are expressed in programming constructs by walking the reader through a number of small but realistic example problems

iii) Reviews internal details of a number of pieces of real-world software (most notably Rails) to show how the authors of these packages use the techniques he describes to solve their problems

iv) Provides a number of helpful and applicable guidelines on how to 'think in Ruby'

v) Generates a GoF style catalog of implementation patterns

vi) Skewers the notion that 'metaprogramming' is any different than regular programming

After finishing this book I have a real appreciation of the techniques the author describes, and how they can be used to write flexible, powerful, and maintainable software. Before reading this book I was aware of a number of these techniques, but I didn't necessarily understand how they could be effectively used to solve real problems. Now I do. The book truly covers how to think in Ruby - how to naturally solve problems in Ruby, as opposed to adapting techniques commonly used in languages from the C/C++/Java lineage.

The one major criticism I had of Metaprogramming Ruby was the 'fanboy' tone that permeates a lot of the text. Frequently the author seems more interested in getting you to agree with him that Ruby is great than in conveying the concepts being discussed. There are a lot of gratuitous slams of other languages (especially Java) that were frankly unnecessary and distracted from the book. Had the tone of those comparisons been a little more highbrow and a little less schoolyard, this would have been a better book.

Overall rating: 4.5 stars
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Short and sweet March 3, 2010
Format:Paperback
I have a BS and MS in Computer Science, and worked with Ruby professionally for two years. I've read every major Ruby book on the market. This book brought me to the next level. If you dig Ruby or Rails and are a programmer looking for the next step, this is it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A Kid's Review
Format:Paperback
I have been programming in Ruby for almost two years, and I have done some Ruby on Rails. With this book I finally begin to understand what Ruby was doing for me all along -- especially when it's running on Rails. Ruby was easy to use like I've used many other languages, but now I understand how unique and powerful Ruby really is. And I'm sure that I will begin to take advantage of that extra power.

Also: the book is well written and organized. I especially like that whenever a particular topic is mentioned a page reference also appears. This makes it easy to do a quick review of the topic before going further, like "Hook Methods (181)."

This book will not sit idly on my shelf. I'll be going back to it again and again for review and further mastery of the topics.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very good content in a condescending and distracting presentation
Reading this book is like being trapped in an all-day team building exercise.

There's a lot of good information, but you'll have to skim through a lot of bad dialog to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by TensOfThousands
I have a love-hate relationship with this book.
Metaprogramming Ruby puts non-obvious and non-trivial content together into a coherent whole.

The technical content of this book is very, very good. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Katrina Owen
Really good despite the annoying style
Before anything else, I have to say I really didn't like the style the author chose for the first part of the book. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Michael Kohl
I Love This Book!
I've been using Ruby for about 3 years now and thought I had a good understanding of the language and its capabilities. Wow, was I wrong! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Anonymous
Fascinating adventure into the world of Ruby, Friendship, and Tragedy
This book offers an amazing look into the beauty and power of Ruby. It has made me a better Rubyist. It is accessible and entertaining. Read more
Published 13 months ago by jgoggles
this book demystifies ruby magic
Anybody who has wondered about the magical code in Ruby source code and has had only a patchwork understanding of Ruby metaprogramming from various sources will find it all... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ming
VERY Obnoxious to read, but good content!
If you want to learn in detail how Metaprogramming Ruby works, by all means: buy this book, it is very useful!

The content of the book is excellent! Read more
Published 15 months ago by T.S.
One of the best Ruby books I've every read
This is one of the best Ruby books I've ever read. (BTW, another one of the best is "Design patterns in Ruby".)

Now I'm reading it the second time. Read more
Published 15 months ago by YI ZHANG
one of the MUST HAVE books if you are trying to master ruby
So I've gone through the standard due course on the road to ruby mastry. I've read the pickaxe, achieved enlightenment with ruby koans and built a few basic sites in ruby on... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Peter De Croos
Obnoxious but good
There's a lot of great information in this book that you won't find in any general-purpose text on the Ruby language, but it's written in a really annoying tone that attempts to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by orangekay
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