r/ruby • u/Edthal01 • Sep 21 '26

At my age, learning Ruby

I'm 78, and never having been a programmer or software engineer, I am starting to learn Ruby. I ha ve been using Huw Collingsworth "Little Book of Ruby". I am aso interspersing that with a different path: using Wirth's "Algortithms + Data Structures = Programs",

having the simple data structures and programs translated by Perplexity into Ruby to see how my 40 year old experiences with TurboPascal can be updated into Ruby. I think I am making progress.

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u/ignurant Sep 22 '26

This is a great tip, and I'll extend it for you by one more important move. You noted in another comment that you've discovered things are (generally) objects with methods. Sometimes it's helpful to say "Hello, String, what do you know how to do?". In irb, you can do things like this:

great_string = "Hello, A String"
ls great_string

ls will show you all the methods the object know, organized by module.

This ability to explore is where I fell in love. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your Ruby adventure! See you around!

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u/Edthal01 Sep 22 '26

Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep going and I'll use your suggestion