Ruby Cookbook

Recipes for Object-Oriented Scripting

Do you want to push Ruby to its limits? Ruby Cookbook is the most comprehensive problem-solving guide to today’s hottest programming language. It gives you hundreds of solutions to real-world problems, with clear explanations and thousands of lines of code you can use in your own projects. From data structures and algorithms to integration with cutting-edge technologies, Ruby Cookbook has something for every programmer. Beginners and advanced Rubyists alike will learn how to program with:

• Strings and numbers
• Arrays and hashes
• Classes, modules, and namespaces
• Reflection and metaprogramming
• XML and HTML processing
• Ruby on Rails (including Ajax integration)
• Databases
• Graphics
• Internet services like email, SSH, and BitTorrent
• Multitasking
• Graphical and terminal interfaces

If you need a web application, this book shows you how to get started with Rails. If you need to rename thousands of files, you’ll see how to use Ruby for this and other everyday tasks. You’ll learn how to read and write Excel spreadsheets, classify text with Bayesian filters, and create PDF files. We’ve even included a few silly tricks, like how to blink the lights on your keyboard.

The Ruby Cookbook is the most useful book yet written about Ruby. When you need to solve a problem, don’t reinvent the wheel: look it up in the Cookbook.

About the Authors
Lucas Carlson is a professional Ruby programmer who specializes in Rails web development. He has authored a half-dozen libraries and contributed to many others, including Rails and RedCloth.

Leonard Richardson is responsible for creating and maintaining libraries in many languages, including Rubyful Soup.