Ubuntu® Linux® Secrets

Chapter 29. Ruby

Secrets in This Chapter

• What Is Ruby?

• Installing Ruby in Ubuntu

• The Ruby Language

• Ruby on Rails

Although a relative newcomer to the programming world, the Ruby programming language is starting to pick up steam, mostly due to the Ruby on Rails project, which provides an object-oriented framework environment for creating dynamic web pages. However, the core Ruby programming language provides a feature-rich scripting environment that Linux system administrators are growing to love. The Ubuntu system supports both the Ruby scripting environment and the Ruby on Rails web programming framework. This chapter shows you how to create a Ruby development environment on your Ubuntu workstation or server for generating everything from simple Ruby scripts to complex web applications.

What Is Ruby?

The Ruby programming language was created by Yukihiro Matsumoto in the mid-1990s as an improved scripting language for the Linux environment. It incorporates many features of the Perl scripting language (see Chapter 26, "Perl and Python"), but it provides a true object-oriented programming environment that is more advanced than the Python programming environment.

Note

Much has been made over the origin of the name Ruby. Often it's assumed that Ruby was chosen because it's often considered superior to Perl (think rubies versus pearls). Another theory is based on the fact that the pearl is the birthstone for the month of June and the ruby is the birthstone for July, the next month in the progression. ...