Ruby for Newbie?!

[Jason Voegele]

Scrumpy <reply at in_newsgroup.tks> wrote in message news:<ac3maf$81p$2 at hfc.pacific.net.hk>...
> I want to learn a programming language.

I wish you the best.

> I'm primarily looking for a langauge to develop web apps and cgi. I would 
> also like to create GUI apps and perhaps use it for some network admin 
> tasks. I'll create apps on, and for, Linux and MS Windows.
> 
> I'd narrowed down my choice to Python until I came across Ruby ;-)
> 
> Is there currently a Ruby equivalent of the following Python related tools, 
> modules, libraries etc.:
> 
> 1/ Tools to create standalone apps to ease distribution i.e. no need to 
> have Ruby installed or to ensure no conflicts between the version of Ruby 
> used to develop the app and a different installed version.
> 
> Python: Installer & py2exe.
> RUBY: ?

Please see http://www.rubygarden.org/ruby?DistributeARubyAppInASingleExecutable

The short answer is that there are a couple of options, but neither
one is as stable as the Python equivalent.

> 2/ IDE.
> Python: Boa Constructor, Pythonwin, IDLE.
> RUBY: Practical Ruby (basic IDE for Windows). Is there a Linux IDE for 
> Ruby?

There is also RDE (Ruby Development Environment) for Windows.  Just
recently, someone released a Ruby plugin for Eclipse, which is a
development environment written in Java, which runs on Linux and other
platforms.  Of course, you also have Emacs and vi. :)

The most promising project is FreeRIDE (http://www.rubyide.org), which
is a pure Ruby IDE currently under development.  Unfortunately, the
FreeRIDE development team has not yet made a release, but they are
making very good progress.

> 3/ GUI toolkits/libraries. My preference is towards using wxWindows.
> Python: wxPython, PyQt, PyGTK.
> RUBY: 

Ruby has FXRuby (FOX), RubyGnome (Gtk+), rbXPCOM (Mozilla XPToolkit),
Ruby/FLTK, Ruby/Qt, and Ruby/Tk.  More information at:

http://www.rubyide.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?GUIFrameworkProject/GUIComparison

> 4/ Web platforms/frameworks etc.
> Python: mod_snake, mod_python, Webware.
> RUBY: mod_ruby - any comments about it's stability/suitability for web app 
> development? Any Ruby equivalent to Webware and it's PHP like (psp) 
> function?

There are several that can be found on the Ruby Application Archive
(RAA).  A few that spring immediately to mind are mod_ruby, IOWA, and
WEBrick.  ERuby is the "PHP-like" ruby tool.  I don't know anything
about Webware.

> 5/ One file Interpreter i.e. to use on a shared hosting co.'s server that 
> doesn't have Ruby installed.
> Python: mxCGIPython (uses the freeze tool).
> RUBY: ?

I'm not sure what you mean here.

> Is there an 'offical' Ruby binary for Windows? It looks like there are 
> three unofficial ones created using three different compilers!

It depends on what you mean by 'official'.  The "de facto" official
Ruby binary for Windows is from "The Pragmatic Programmers", Dave
Thomas and Andrew Hunt.  You can find it here:

http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/ruby/downloads/ruby-install.html

This version is now built using Microsoft Visual C++.  Previous
version were built with gcc/cygwin.  Windows binaries built with VC++,
gcc/cygwin, and mingw are all available for download.  You can also
download the source and build with any C compiler you'd like.

> Finally, is there a good Ruby book aimed at newbie programmers (not 
> existing programmers new to Ruby)?

It has not yet been released, but Pete McBreen, author of "Software
Craftmanship", is currently writing a Ruby book aimed at newbie
programmers.  Until this book is completed, the next best thing would
be Dave Thomas' and Andrew Hunt's "Programming Ruby", which is
available online at:

http://www.rubycentral.com/book/
 
> NOTE: I made a recent post on this newsgroup saying that I was selecting 
> Python as my 1st language and that I hadn't received any response to posts 
> I had made to comp.lang.ruby. Ironically, I received a post from a Ruby 
> user who said he never saw my posts (faulty ISP or newsgroup!) so I'm 
> reposting in both newsgroups. Apologizes to Pythoners.

And I apologize for contributing to a Ruby-focused thread on c.l.py,
however this message has still not made it to comp.lang.ruby

-- 
Jason Voegele
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us."
    -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun