[deleted]
Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
81–90 of 213 posts
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
It really is a pretentiousness held in a group of language zealots. You don’t hear the same about Nim, for example(yet?), In my experience. I don’t deny Ruby’s impact on the industry I just have a hard time with the attitudes prevalent in the devs I’ve worked with... it is strikingly stereotypical.
Complains about the "pretentiousness" of Ruby developers (Out all the languages!). Proceeds to mention Nim. Rub his mustache, drink his kombucha a put another vinyl.
This is a real shame, I think, because the same things that made Ruby and its community such a revelation in the early years of this century (as a sort of revolt against enterprise development and especially the Java ecosystem), make me quite like Nim in a world with the complexity of C++ and the restraints of Rust. To be clear I happen to like all these languages but I also value their many contrasting personalities.
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#83I learned basically nothing from this book. Maybe if I were a new programmer it would have helped but as an experienced programmer I found its pedagogy too distracting to learn anything. But Ruby is easy to learn and fun to use. The headline about it is that code can be executed in a class definition. If that's not broadcast right at the beginning, it'll take a long time to learn what's going on in Rails.
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#84I've always felt this was a singular achievement, one which perfectly captured the spirit of its author, the community he inhabited, and a particular zeitgeist in programming and on the internet. The need for various other authors to attempt to replicate it for other languages by creating rambling, twee books with wacky titles and comic characters of their own, I've frankly found a bit sad and underwhelming. It's a b…
> I've always felt this was a singular achievement, one which perfectly captured the spirit of its author, the community he inhabited, and a particular zeitgeist in programming and on the internet
There’s been a talk earlier this year based on that, by Sunny Ripert: “A poignant look back at "why the lucky stiff's" legacy”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=njr39cVU7d0&list=PLjyiiigeVQV-...
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#85I've always felt this was a singular achievement, one which perfectly captured the spirit of its author, the community he inhabited, and a particular zeitgeist in programming and on the internet. The need for various other authors to attempt to replicate it for other languages by creating rambling, twee books with wacky titles and comic characters of their own, I've frankly found a bit sad and underwhelming. It's a b…
> I've always felt this was a singular achievement, one which perfectly captured the spirit of its author, the community he inhabited, and a particular zeitgeist in programming and on the internet There’s been a talk earlier this year based on that, by Sunny Ripert: “A poignant look back at "why the lucky stiff's" legacy” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=njr39cVU7d0&list=PLjyiiigeVQV-...
Thanks for posting this! I’m aware my curmudgeonly tone set the stage for further grumpy comments but I want to reiterate that I do actually find _why’s guide delightful, I just don’t think other attempts (which it would probably be mean to name) work outside the narrow circumstances of the original.
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#86I've always felt this was a singular achievement, one which perfectly captured the spirit of its author, the community he inhabited, and a particular zeitgeist in programming and on the internet. The need for various other authors to attempt to replicate it for other languages by creating rambling, twee books with wacky titles and comic characters of their own, I've frankly found a bit sad and underwhelming. It's a b…
i don't think it was even funny the first time. reading this stuff i always feel like the author is trying to keep my attention by jiggling some car keys in front of my face as if i am an infant. this applies to books like learn you a haskell too.
Before stumbling upon Why’s Guide my only experience with programming literature had been dry textbooks.
The whimsy was a welcome relief.
Someone with your taste would be better off reading The Art of Computer Programming though.
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
It really is a pretentiousness held in a group of language zealots. You don’t hear the same about Nim, for example(yet?), In my experience. I don’t deny Ruby’s impact on the industry I just have a hard time with the attitudes prevalent in the devs I’ve worked with... it is strikingly stereotypical.
> It really is a pretentiousness held in a group of language zealots. Can’t tell if this is ironic or not, but Rubyists are pretty well known as the friendliest out of all language communities, and have been for over a decade now
No, I’m not being ironic. And as an entire, stereotyped group Rubyists sure are nice.
Pretentious doesn’t mean rude or unwelcoming and I don’t want to insinuate that.
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#88Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#89Why do Rubyists like this convoluted and almost childish communication style?
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."
Re: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby (2004)
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
i don't think it was even funny the first time. reading this stuff i always feel like the author is trying to keep my attention by jiggling some car keys in front of my face as if i am an infant. this applies to books like learn you a haskell too.
Before stumbling upon Why’s Guide my only experience with programming literature had been dry textbooks. The whimsy was a welcome relief. Someone with your taste would be better off reading The Art of Computer Programming though.
TAOCP isn't exactly a laugh riot but Knuth is kind of known for his sense of humor.