Metaprogramming Ruby: Program Like the Ruby Pros [Paperback]

Paolo Perrotta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1934356476 | ISBN-13: 978-1934356470 | Edition: 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.

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: 7.5 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Ruby
  • #24 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking > Network Programming
  • #95 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Object-Oriented Design

More About the Author

Paolo Perrotta speaks and writes about software development. He worked as a developer in domains that range from embedded to enterprise software, computer games, and web applications. These days, he mentors and coaches developers throughout Europe. He has a basecamp in Bologna, Italy. He loves Ruby.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should really be titled "Thinking in Ruby" April 8, 2010

By Peter M. Goldstein

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

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet March 3, 2010

By Matt Darby

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I have a love-hate relationship with this book. December 18, 2011

By Katrina Owen

Format:Paperback

Metaprogramming Ruby puts non-obvious and non-trivial content together into a coherent whole.

The technical content of this book is very, very good. The book explains much of the basic structure of ruby (object model, class definitions, blocks, method lookup, etc) in such a way that common idioms that I have previously used without understanding their underlying mechanisms now make complete sense, and my understanding and command of some of the more powerful features of ruby have greatly improved.

Real-world code examples drawn mostly from ruby gems are included, and these are excellent illustrations of ideas presented.

As with many technical books, many of the non-real-world code examples are extremely simple and contrived. For the most part, this is acceptable, but there are instances where the tests/sample output provided for exercises were incomplete -- in the sense that you can come up with a flawed and incomplete piece of code which will still make the test pass.

The thing about this book that drove me up the wall is the insipid story line: You have started a new job, and you have an incredibly chirpy and annoying coworker with whom you must pair program, and who lectures you about the ruby object model, etc. The dialogues are awful; Bill The Asinine Coworker "exclaims" and "shouts" much like characters in bad romance novels supposedly do. The text is littered with irrelevant and distracting details about sipping coffee and grabbing keyboards and ignoring whiteboards in favor of napkins.

This is possibly the best exposition of the ruby object model available, however, so if you are frustrated by the piecemeal information available on the web and you don't have a chirpy co-worker by the name of Bill to mentor you, I would highly recommend reading this book.