Pricing and Dates

$1095 Alumni and Groups of 5+
$1395 Early Bird! (thru Jan 11)
$1695 Regular
  • Next course in Summer 2008

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The Ruby Studio is a hands-on, interactive workshop where you'll learn how to write object-oriented programs in Ruby, and have fun doing it!

  • Are you planning to start a Rails or JRuby project, or are you already using them but need a better understanding of Ruby?
  • Looking to update your programming skills with the language that's taking the industry by storm?
  • Tired of programming in your day job's language of choice, and need to rediscover the joy of programming?

If you're programming for fun or profit, learning how to program in Ruby now is a smart investment.

Who Gives the Studio?

Dave and Chad

Dave Thomas and Chad Fowler. In this Studio you'll learn directly from two renowned experts on Ruby and master programmers.

Dave Thomas is, among many other things, the author of Programming Ruby: the definitive reference manual that introduced Ruby to the western world.

Chad Fowler is a leading contributor in the Ruby community, a cofounder of Ruby Central, Inc., an organizer of RubyConf, and the author of Rails Recipes.

“I liked the guru instructors, the vast amount of info, and exploring multiple ways of doing things.”

—Cody Lewis

Who’s It For?

Dreyfus-ruby

Programmers. The Studio is taught by programmers for programmers. It's a hands-on programming course, not lots of dry theory. You'll be writing Ruby code to solve many example problems, for fun and profit.

This Studio is right for you if

  • You have experience with another programming language: Java, C#, C/C++, PHP, Perl, Python, Lisp, Smalltalk, etc.

No previous experience with Ruby or object-oriented programming is required.

If you already have a good working knowledge of Ruby, then consider attending the Advanced Ruby Studio.

“Having hands-on examples and being able to see the examples [live code by the instructors] was a great help in furthering my understanding.”

—Devin Riley

What Will I Learn?

How to Write Ruby Programs with Style. We'll teach you how to write clean, elegant programs the Ruby way.

Getting Started
Ruby has a rich set of libraries and programming tools. Setting up your working environment properly will give you a solid foundation to work from.

  • Installing Ruby and the RubyGems package management system
  • Running Ruby programs: invoking the Ruby interpreter, using the interactive Ruby shell (irb), using Ruby libraries
  • Using RubyGems: how to find gems, how to use them, and where they're installed
  • Accessing, writing, and generating documentation using RDoc and ri

Ruby Language Constructs
When you begin programming in Ruby, you'll notice some constructs that are familiar from other programming languages. But Ruby includes some pleasant surprises, as well.

  • Loops and conditionals
  • Strings and numbers
  • Arrays and hashes
  • Regular expressions
  • Blocks and closures
  • Iterators, including Enumerable
  • Exceptions

Object-Oriented Programming
Ruby is an object-oriented programming language, but what does that really mean and how does it change the way you write programs? Let's understand how objects can help us write better programs.

  • Object-oriented programming concepts: objects, classes, methods, composition, inheritance
  • Object-oriented design in a dynamic language: mechanisms unique to Ruby, modules, mixins

Organizing Ruby Code
Once you've conceptually organized your program into classes and modules, you need to organize it on disk for easy use and packaging.

  • How to split code into separate files: scripts, classes, and modules
  • Where to find all the stuff on your system: standard libraries, gems, site_ruby, etc.

Testing
Ruby has a strong culture of testing, and your programs will thank you for it.

  • Writing and running tests with the Test::Unit library: assertions, test cases, test fixtures
  • Test automation using Rake

Network Programming
It's a networked world, so we'll learn to write simple programs that connect to Web servers and download and process data.

Scripting with Ruby
In addition to being an object-oriented language for building robust applications, Ruby is also a great scripting language for automating tasks around your home and office.

  • Using stdin/stdout, files, and other standard input and output libraries
  • Executing external processes
  • Text processing

Common Idioms and Troubleshooting
Throughout the course we'll show you common Ruby idioms, tips and tricks, and techniques for quickly diagnosing problems.

“Learning on my own, I missed many of the important details about how Ruby is implemented and why the code should be written a certain way. [In the Studio], the instructors walked us through particular problems to illustrate the programming process for solving them.”

—Zeke Ricci

What's a Studio Like?

Studio Experience

Interactive Learning. In a Studio you learn in a significantly different way than reading through the books. Attending a Studio complements what you may have read, but in an interactive environment where you'll:

  • get your questions answered by the experts, and your peers
  • discuss up-to-date topics that aren't in the books
  • learn techniques from live coding sessions
  • cement the concepts you've learned in the books

We think Studio offers the best developer training there is. But don't take our word for it. Just ask our alumni. Check out their reviews and applications they've built! The Studio experience continues after the Studio with our members-only alumni mailing list.

“The strictly guarded Alumni group is one of the best programming resources I have ever seen.”

What Should I Bring?

Prag Studio Attendees

You and Your Laptop. It wouldn't be a programming workshop if you didn't walk away having written some code. You'll be most productive on the laptop you use regularly. (On average, 60% bring Mac OS X, 30% bring Windows, and 10% bring Linux.)

A few weeks before the Studio, we'll send out detailed instructions for installing everything you'll need. During the Studio, you'll get hands-on experience working through prepared exercises, and experimenting on your own, too.

Your Registration Includes

  • A continental breakfast and lunch each day
  • A binder with all the presented material
  • Internet connectivity and power during the Studio
  • Access to our alumni-only mailing list
  • Discounts on book purchases and future training
  • A stylish t-shirt and other goodies!

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