Book Image

Comprehensive Ruby Programming

By : Jordan Hudgens
Book Image

Comprehensive Ruby Programming

By: Jordan Hudgens

Overview of this book

Ruby is a powerful, general-purpose programming language that can be applied to any task. Whether you are an experienced developer who wants to learn a new language or you are new to programming, this book is your comprehensive Ruby coding guide. Starting with the foundational principles, such as syntax, and scaling up to advanced topics such as big data analysis, this book will give you all of the tools you need to be a professional Ruby developer. A few of the key topics are: object-oriented programming, built-in Ruby methods, core programming skills, and an introduction to the Ruby on Rails and Sinatra web frameworks. You will also build 10 practical Ruby programs. Created by an experienced Ruby developer, this book has been written to ensure it focuses on the skills you will need to be a professional Ruby developer. After you have read this book, you will be ready to start building real-world Ruby projects.

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Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Free Chapter
1
Introduction to the Ruby Programming Language
Introduction to the Ruby Programming Language
What is Ruby?
Popular sites that use Ruby
Installing Ruby on a computer
Installing different Ruby versions with RVM
Summary
2
Ruby Variables
Ruby Variables
Using variables in Ruby
Printing to the Ruby console
Getting input from the Ruby console using gets and chomp
Variable scope and variable types
Summary
3
Ruby Strings
Ruby Strings
Using strings in Ruby
String interpolation guide for Ruby
String manipulation guide
A practical implementation
String substitution guide
Split, strip, and join guides for strings
Summary
4
Working with Numbers in Ruby
Working with Numbers in Ruby
Integer arithmetic guide
Arithmetic order of operations
Difference between integers and floats
Summary
5
Ruby Methods
Ruby Methods
Creating methods in Ruby
What does a Ruby method return?
What are the differences between class and instance methods in Ruby?
Ruby proc tutorial
The Ruby lambda tutorial
What is the difference between procs and lambdas in Ruby?
Guide to method arguments in Ruby
Using splat and optional arguments in Ruby methods
Summary
6
Ruby Iterators and Loops
Ruby Iterators and Loops
The while loop guide
The each iterator method tutorial
The for...in loops tutorial
Looping over a hash
Using the select method
Using the map method – part 1
Using the map method – part 2
Summing values in an array using the inject method
Summary
7
Ruby Collections
Ruby Collections
Using arrays
Deleting items from arrays
Using push and pop for arrays
The Ruby hash tutorial
Deleting elements from a hash
Iterating over a hash for a key or value
Top hash methods in Ruby
Summary
8
Ruby Conditionals
Ruby Conditionals
The conditionals guide
Syntax for the unless conditional
Nested if...else conditionals
Guide to compound conditionals
Summary
9
Object-Oriented Programming in Ruby
Object-Oriented Programming in Ruby
Introduction to how OOP works
Ruby OOP development – setters, getters, and methods
Working with instantiation in Ruby
Creating an initializer method in a Ruby class
The working of OOP inheritance
Overview of private versus public methods
The working of polymorphism and usage of super
Dead simple OOP
SOLID OOP development – the simple responsibility principle
SOLID OOP development – the open/closed principle guide and example
SOLID OOP development – the Liskov substitution principle
SOLID OOP development – the interface segregation principle
SOLID OOP development – the dependency inversion principle
Summary
10
Working with the Filesystem in Ruby
Working with the Filesystem in Ruby
Creating a file
Reading files into a program using the File class
Deleting a file
Appending a file
Summary
11
Error Handling in Ruby
Error Handling in Ruby
Error handling tutorial
Error handling – the best practices
Developing a custom error logger in Ruby
Summary
12
Regular Expressions in Ruby
Regular Expressions in Ruby
Regular expression code example
How to validate an IP address using regular expressions
How to develop a wheel of fortune game
Summary
13
Searching with grep in Ruby
Searching with grep in Ruby
How to use grep in Ruby
How to use grep instead of the select and map methods
Summary
14
Ruby Gems
Ruby Gems
Introduction to Ruby gems
How to research Ruby gems
Summary
15
Ruby Metaprogramming
Ruby Metaprogramming
Metaprogramming introduction
How to integrate metaprogramming techniques into a custom class
How to use metaprogramming for opening and customizing the String class
How Rails use metaprogramming for the find_by method
Utilizing metaprogramming with method_missing to create methods on the fly
Incorporating respond_to_missing to conform to metaprogramming best practices
Implementing metaprogramming with define_method
Summary
16
Ruby Web Frameworks
Ruby Web Frameworks
Sinatra web framework development
Introduction to the Ruby on Rails framework
Summary
17
Working with APIs in Ruby
Working with APIs in Ruby
How to work with APIs in Ruby
How to use the httparty Ruby gem
How to create a custom API connector in Ruby
How to parse an API in Ruby
Summary
18
Ruby Algorithms
Ruby Algorithms
Introduction to sorting algorithms
Implementing the bubble sort algorithm
Implementing the quick sort algorithm
Implementing the merge sort algorithm
Implementing a prime number counting algorithm
How to code the power digit sum algorithm
Implementing a humanize counting algorithm
Implementing a date algorithm
How to code a Fibonacci digit counter
Implementing a permutation algorithm
Implementing an amicable number algorithm
Implementing a factorial algorithm
Implementing an even Fibonacci number algorithm
Implementing the least common multiple
Summary
19
Machine Learning
Machine Learning
Big data analysis
Basic decision tree implementation
How to develop a big data analysis application in Ruby
Summary

Big data analysis

In this section, we are going to walk through the exciting topic of big data analysis. At a high level, big data analysis is the process that helps build algorithms that can analyze vast amounts of data and allows you to generate behavior-based decisions from that data.

For big data analysis in this section, we'll be using the decision tree gem. It uses the ID3 algorithm and is very efficient in taking data and making decisions based on it:

I'd like to show you a practical big data project I built for a client about a year ago. This was a large company that had more than a thousand trucks and they wanted an application that showed when each truck should retire based on historical data. For years, the company had been forced to make arbitrary decisions based on gut feelings. An application like this would allow for more informed, data-driven decisions...

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