Monday, June 30, 2008

Ruby on Windows: The Book

A reader recently commented:

"Have you written a book on Ruby + Windows? I'd love to see the material expanded and put down on paper. I suppose I can print it out myself, but it's just not the same."

I've been asked about this before. While I currently have no such "Ruby on Windows" book to offer, I can now say that I have finally started on it.

I welcome any comments, suggestions, or advice you may have -- as readers and/or writers.

12 comments:

Luis said...

+10 for your book David, looking forward for it!.

Matt McKnight said...

Awesome- I think using Rails to connect to SQL Server and ActiveDirectory to authenticate users without a login prompt are my favorite bits. Basically all of the stuff you need to run Rails on Windows Server with a Windows infrastructure.

Anonymous said...

Excellent news David!

Matt's post is definitely at the top of the list, but also general deployment issues on Windows for those of use who want to stay on the Windows OS.

Apache and Mongrel configuration and tuning for max efficiency and speed. I keep reading about Windows process spawning as a speed knock against using Windows for deployment.

The proper way to handle ActiveRecord associations with MS SQL Server and ActiveRecords needs to use auto incrementing IDs as the primary key and other issues.

I'm so pumped your finally writing a book David. I've been following your blog for sometime. You went on vacation for a bit there, but I'm glad your back.

Daniel Cadenas said...

I'll buy your book!!! :D

Gabe Moothart said...

One thing I'd like to read about is executing dos commands in Ruby. I've found subtle and (to me) unpredictable issues when using backticks/system()/exec(). Usually they work, but sometimes a command sent that way will fail even though it succeeds on the command line or in a batch file.

To get around this I've started using ruby to dynamically generate batch files and executing those.

I'd love to know if other people have experienced this problem, what causes it, and if there is a better workaround.

Anonymous said...

Any additional word on your book yet David?

Anonymous said...

Excellent news!!!!!!

I will be buying the book + PDF when available.

Any way to play in the 'beta' review process?

WaveNinja said...

It's really cool you are writing this book.

A few suggestions if you need them:
- maybe some tips on setting up your environment, what tools to use, etc.
- don't forget about the boring stuff such as documentation and debugging. Unfortunately this rarely gets the attention it deserves in programming books.
- since Windows is a popular for gaming, maybe something on graphics and Direct/X
- leave out as much Rails stuff as you can, focus on Ruby.

Even though I'm more of a linux person, I'm looking forward to it allready!

Unknown said...

Very interesting David, Really looking forward to the book Ruby on Windows!!

Haji said...

The second half of 2009 is just around the corner and I guess it may be a little too late to give you this advice but please, don't make your book yet another beginner's book.

I've recently started learning ruby, followed up by rails then back to ruby to learn about gui development and have come across numerous introductory books along the way. Notable mentions are Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby book and The Book of Ruby from Sapphire Steel.

I'd like to think that I've leveled up from a beginner and would suggest that you stay away from basing your book on the basics. Good luck in either case and I hope your book's a success (plus have a free pdf XD).

Unknown said...

What is current state of Ruby on Windows: The Book?

Hope that you are working on it!!!

David Mullet said...

Thanks to all for your encouragement and suggestions!

I am indeed working on the book, which will be published later this year.

David