Noel Rappin, author of the latest edition of the influential 'PickAxe' book, discusses the updates for Ruby 3.2. Topics include the book's history, why it was updated, what's new in this edition, and how it benefits developers at all levels. Noel also shares insights on the development process and recommendations for reading.
The 5th edition of the PickAxe book by Noel Rappin covers new Ruby 3.2 syntax updates, tools like RBS and Sorbet.
Early access to the book allows for community feedback and ensures content is relevant and inclusive.
Deep dives
The PIG-ACs Book by Noel Rapid
Noel Rapid, a staff engineer at Time Financial, is working on a new edition of the PIG-ACs book, the first English book about Ruby, originally published in 2001. The upcoming edition, aimed at both beginners and experienced Ruby developers, incorporates nine years of new Ruby syntax updates, including ractors, pattern matching, and advanced tooling like Bundler. This release addresses the significant changes in the Ruby ecosystem, updating references and balancing foundational and advanced topics.
Early Access and Reader Accessibility
The new PIG-ACs book is being released early to gather feedback and engage readers. The early access format, common with Pragmatic publishers, allows for gradual updates and community input during the book's development. While the book assumes basic programming knowledge, it aims to be accessible to readers of varying experience levels. Continuous revisions and a focus on user feedback ensure that the content remains relevant and inclusive.
RBS and Sorbet in the Book
The book covers tools like RBS and Sorbet, addressing Ruby's transition into statically typed features to improve code quality and developer experience. RBS provides a way to declare type signatures within Ruby projects, while Sorbet offers static typing capabilities for runtime error prevention. By including these tools and explaining their usage, the book caters to developers looking to enhance their understanding of Ruby's evolving language features and tooling.
The 1st edition of Programming Ruby, commonly known as "The PickAxe" book, came out in 2001. Now, in 2022, Noel Rappin is releasing the beta of the 5th edition, updated for Ruby 3.2.
Why should you pick up the book? To get mind on how Ruby works, what makes it unique, and how Ruby developers think about Ruby.
These are some of the topics we cover:
How Noel decided the book was ready for early access
Noel gives the history of the PickAxe book
Why Noel decided to update the book
What will be different in the 5th edition
What you need to know before reading the book
What's left to do before the final edition is ready
How long Noel has been working on the book
What the expected final release date is
What the hardest part of the project has been
How Noel recommends you read the book
How Rubyists of all levels will benefit from reading the book
Why you will benefit from reading the latest edition
Sponsor
Special thanks to Andy Croll for personally sponsoring this episode. Be sure to check out firstrubyfriend.org and onerubything.com for nice, free community resources for newer devs!