Top Ruby books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Ruby books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Ruby

Understanding the concepts of Ruby starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Eloquent Ruby

Eloquent Ruby

Eloquent Ruby starts small, answering tactical questions focused on a single statement, method, test, or bug. You'll learn how to write code that actually looks like Ruby (not Java); why Ruby has so many control structures; how to use strings, expressions, and symbols; and what dynamic typing is really good for.

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Programming Ruby 1.9 & 2.0: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide

Programming Ruby 1.9 & 2.0: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide

Would you like to go from first idea to working code much, much faster? Do you currently spend more time satisfying the compiler instead of your clients or end users? Are you frustrated with demanding languages that seem to get in your way, instead of getting the work done? Are you using Rails, and want to dig deeper into the underlying Ruby language? If so, then we've got a language and book …

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Effective Testing with RSpec 3: Build Ruby Apps with Confidence

Effective Testing with RSpec 3: Build Ruby Apps with Confidence

Start by learning the basics of installing and using RSpec. Then build a real-world JSON API, using RSpec throughout the process to drive a BDD-style outside-in workflow. Apply an effective test strategy to write fast, robust tests that support evolutionary design through refactoring. The rest of the book provides the definitive guide to RSpec's components. Use rspec-core's metadata to slice a…

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Metaprogramming Ruby 2: Program Like the Ruby Pros

Metaprogramming Ruby 2: Program Like the Ruby Pros

Dig under the surface and explore Ruby's most advanced feature: a collection of techniques and tricks known as metaprogramming. In this book, you'll learn metaprogramming as an essential component of Ruby and discover the deep, non-obvious details of the language. Once you understand the tenets of Ruby, including the object model, scopes, and singleton classes, you're on your way to applying m…

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Head First Ruby: A Brain-Friendly Guide

Head First Ruby: A Brain-Friendly Guide

All the buzz about this Ruby language? Is it right for you? Well, ask yourself: are you tired of all those extra declarations, keywords, and compilation steps in your other language? Do you want to be a more productive programmer? Then youâ??ll love Ruby. With this unique hands-on learning experience, youâ??ll discover how Ruby takes care of all the details for you, so you can simply have fun …

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Agile Web Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide

Agile Web Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide

Rails is a full-stack, open source web framework that enables you to create full-featured, sophisticated web-based applications, but with a twist... A full Rails application probably has less total code than the XML you'd need to configure the same application in other frameworks.With this book you'll learn how to use ActiveRecord to connect business objects and database tables. No more painfu…

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Additional Ruby Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Ruby, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Ruby on Rails Tutorial: Learn Web Development With Rails

Ruby on Rails Tutorial: Learn Web Development With Rails

Using Rails, developers can build web applications of exceptional elegance and power. Although its remarkable capabilities have made Ruby on Rails one of the world

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Programming Ruby 3.3: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide

Programming Ruby 3.3: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide

Ruby is a fully object-oriented language. The combination of the power of a pure object-oriented language with the convenience of a scripting language makes Ruby a favorite tool of programmers that want to get things done quickly and cleanly.

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Learn Enough Ruby to Be Dangerous: Write Programs, Publish Gems, and Develop Sinatra Web Apps with Ruby

Learn Enough Ruby to Be Dangerous: Write Programs, Publish Gems, and Develop Sinatra Web Apps with Ruby

Programmers love Ruby for its elegance, power, and flexibility: that's why it was chosen for the Ruby on Rails framework that launched websites from Shopify to Coinbase. You'll love Ruby too, but you don't need to learn "everything" about it, just how to use it efficiently to solve real problems. In Learn Enough Ruby to Be Dangerous, renowned instructor Michael Hartl teaches the concepts, skil…

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Ruby Cookbook

Ruby Cookbook

Recipes for Object Oriented Scripting

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