Rating: 

The author starts out by discussing some basic commands, and an overview of the book. This first chapter also includes information on how to get and install Ruby on various operation systems.

By the second chapter the author is giving an overview of the Ruby language that gives the reader some idea of what to expect. And then its off to learning the syntax much as you would expect when learning any language.

For the curious the chapter subjects continue as follows. Conditional statements, strings, math, arrays, hashes, files, classes, more fun with Ruby (covers things like XML, Tk, RubyGems and Rdoc), and finishes up with a brief introduction to Ruby on Rails. The author also includes a great Ruby Reference as an appendix.

Check out the book online for more information:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596529864/index.html

CONCLUSION
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This is a simple book that does a great job of explaining to the reader the basics about Ruby. I liked this book and would recommend this book to those looking to learn Ruby or as a reference. I really liked this book, but I only gave it 4 stars because a 5 star rating means definitive and this is book is not a definitive reference, it is a basics book.