[ale] semi [OT] making learning ruby programming fun?

Wed Mar 27 09:21:25 EDT 2013

My $0.02:  Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (
http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ ).  One of the more unusual
language textbooks you will encounter.

btw I enjoy C, C++, Python, SQL, shell, and several other languages about
equally.  I dunno why Python's caring about whitespace is a deal-breaker
for Mr. Frazier.

-- CHS

On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 9:29 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) <
atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

> Hi Scott,
>
> I understand what you're saying.  Heck, if someone wants to pay me to
> learn it, then I will.  At the moment, though, I've uninstalled Java on all
> my Windows machines and am trying to figure out how to do so in Linux
> because of the security risks of having it on my system.  If I have to
> learn it, or use it, I might have to do so in a purpose built VM.
>
> I have heard that the Java syntax is more obtuse and verbose and that the
> object model is harder to follow than some others.  I get the impression
> that you have to type a whole lot more and it's a lot more cryptic to get
> something done, versus, say, Go or Ruby.  That's just from memory and I
> cannot remember the source.  There may have been multiple sources.  But, I
> don't have any personal experience with it.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> Scott Plante <splante at insightsys.com> wrote:
>
> >There are probably some good reasons not to pick Java as the modern
> >language you want to learn, but "security problems" is not one of them.
> >There have been several security holes found lately, but they relate to
> >running un-trusted Java in the browser. Almost all the Java jobs
> >revolve around writing Java on the server, and practically all the rest
> >are Java applications on the desktop or as a trusted applet or
> >browser-launched application.
> >
> >
> >It's a very hard problem to allow random, un-trusted code to run on
> >your computer and yet prevent it from doing any harm. It's a bit easier
> >if you have an extremely limited language that doesn't do much anyway.
> >They're constantly finding security holes in JavaScript, Flash, and
> >ActiveX, too. That's not meant to be an excuse and vendors do try to
> >fix holes as quickly as possible, with differing levels of competency .
> >Also, these holes weren't in "Java" per se, but in the Oracle JVM. Some
> >of them might also have been in, say, the IBM JVM or JRocket JVM since
> >there is code sharing between projects. But they were probably not in
> >Google's Dalvik JVM (since they don't do applets), even though for
> >Android you write in the Java language (more or less).
> >
> >
> >In a recent security contest, participants found holes inthe major
> >browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari and Java and Win 7/8.
> >Chrome OS did relatively well with only a "partial" exploit. It's not
> >so much that Java is less secure than JavaScript, it's just that you
> >can do general browsing these days without Java, but you can't do
> >without JavaScript.
> >
> >
> >But all these security holes, in a sense, exist in spades for PHP, C,
> >C++, etc., because they're not even trying to limit what your code can
> >do. In other words, if the OS allows your user to overwrite a file with
> >a regular program (not an unsigned applet) written in Java, you can
> >also overwrite that file with C, PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, etc. But
> >they're not security "holes" because the language (including Java) is
> >making no guarantees in that case. But avoiding Java on the server-side
> >because of unsigned applet security holes is like choosing a sedan for
> >highway driving over a crossover, because the crossover gets stuck in
> >the mud more than a Hummer.
> >
> >
> >Scott
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >
> >From: "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>
> >To: "ALE" <ale at ale.org>
> >Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 10:39:11 AM
> >Subject: [ale] semi [OT] making learning ruby programming fun?
> >
> >Hi all,
> >
> >As some of you know who've been following my prior threads, I've had a
> >long time interest in learning a modern programming language. I've had
> >difficulty putting the proper time into the studies, but I'm always
> >genuinely interested in the information I learn here. Leam had
> >convinced me that GO was a great language, and I believe it is. I was
> >going to tackle that, but I have misgivings about its lack of
> >popularity in the market place.
> >
> >According to:
> >
> >http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html
> >
> >GO ranks between 51 and 100 in usage, and the percentage is so low it's
> >not listed. So, like it or not, learning GO might be a skill few people
> >want. I decided to defer that.
> >
> >Most recently, I decided to learn the specific language of the
> >MetaTrader currency trading platform so I can build a tradebot. I am
> >working on that slowly. Unless I get really good, it is unlikely
> >someone will hire me for that. The objective would be for the tradebot
> >to make money using my own account.
> >
> >So, I still have an interest in learning a general programming
> >language.
> >
> >I'm interested in a modern garbage collected language, preferably multi
> >paradigm, with safe I/O and system calls, that can be compiled, and
> >that doesn't care about white space.
> >
> >See this comparison:
> >
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_programming_languages
> >
> >I've chosen Ruby as my project language.
> >
> >According to the link posted above, the top 10 languages, and some of
> >the reasons I've rejected some of them, are as follows. No offense is
> >intended to anyone that programs in these languages.
> >
> >01) Java - security problems
> >
> >02) C - not modern garbage collected
> >
> >03) Objective C - Apple centric primarily
> >
> >04) C++ - not modern garbage collected
> >
> >05) C# - MS centric primarily
> >
> >------------
> >
> >06) PHP - security problems
> >per
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Php
> >"About 30% of all vulnerabilities listed on the National Vulnerability
> >Database are linked to PHP."
> >
> >07) VB - MS centric
> >
> >08) Python - cares about white space
> >
> >09) Ruby - This is my choice.
> >
> >10) Perl - does not have safe I/O and system calls
> >per
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_programming_languages
> >
> >-------------
> >
> >So, having said all that, I have some Ruby questions.
> >
> >A) I have the "PickAxe" book on Ruby 1.9 by Dave Thomas. Is that a good
> >resource for learning, or do I need to upgrade to a Ruby 2.0 book now
> >that version 2 is out?
> >
> >B) Does anyone have any experience compiling Ruby either through
> >Rubinius or JRuby or otherwise?
> >
> >See http://patshaughnessy.net/2012/2/15/is-ruby-interpreted-or-compiled
> >
> >
> >Finally, I've observed that reading one of these programming books is
> >about as much fun as reading the US tax code. You get a thousand little
> >examples of things like using for next loops to do a factorial. Now
> >that's exciting. I've seen maybe 1 of 100 books, primarily from Deitel
> >and Deitel or the Head First series, that make learning programming
> >fun. They present you with real world applications, simplified, that
> >are interesting. They let you get something you can interact with on
> >the screen quickly and work on learning how it works and tweaking it.
> >For example, a simulator of an ATM machine. An actual working realistic
> >program.
> >
> >C) So, does ANYONE know of a Ruby book that would make learning the
> >language FUN, or at least moderately interesting?
> >
> >As always, any help is appreciated.
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >
> >Ron
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >
> >Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9
> >Mail.
> >Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
> >
> >(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> >
> >call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> >
> >mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very
> >quickly.)
> >
> >Ron Frazier
> >770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message.
> >linuxdude AT techstarship.com
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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>
>
> --
>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
> Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Ale at ale.org
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