Eric Weinstein - Ruby Wizardry: An Introduction to Programming for Kids

This book would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of dozenspossibly even dozens of dozens!of people.

First, my wife, Laura, who not only tolerated my all-night writing sessions and endless requests for feedback on story ideas, but also at various times pinch hit as literary agent, proofreader, sanity checker, and stop-reading-the-Internet-and-get-back-to-work!-er. This book would never have come to be without her love and support.

My family, especially my father, who read to me almost every night for years, and my mother, who (for better or worse) taught me that I could do anything to which I stubbornly committed myself.

My teachers, to whom this book is dedicated, particularly my teachers in the Ruby community: Cole Brown, Linda Liukas, and Dean Strelau, as well as all the brilliant, dedicated facilitators and students at Hacker School.

Of course, Ruby Wizardry would not have been possible without Tyler Ortman, Riley Hoffman, Bill Pollock, and the amazing people at No Starch Press. I literally cant thank them enough for their insight, energy, and dedication.

Steve Klabnik, who read an early version of this book and wrote a wonderful foreword for it, as well as Peter Cooper and Pat Shaughnessy, who did the technical review and gave me much greater insight into the nitty-gritty of the Ruby language. All three are phenomenal teachers and Rubyists.

why the lucky stiff, whose book whys (Poignant) Guide to Ruby was one of the first Ruby books I read and who was the first to really show me the significance of and enthusiasm for art in the language and the community. I hope this book evokes some of the same feelings of excitement and wonder I felt when reading whys work.

Finally, Dave, who introduced me to Bill at No Starch Press and made this whole thing possible.

You found this book! Okay, awesome. I was really hoping it would get to you.

Imagine someone tells you hes discovered a new way of writing. Not a new language, like French or Japanese or Elvish, but a whole new kind of writing that makes your stories actually happen . If you described a maze, people could enterand get lost inthat maze. If you wrote about a faraway planet where robot pirates fought ninja wizards, that planet would totally exist. Not only that, but you could write dialogue like "Beep boop shiver me circuits" or cast spells like ninja_wizard.throw_flaming_ninja_stars. Crazy, right? And thats probably exactly what youd say: that this is completely crazy and whoever thought of it has too much time on his hands. Too much imagination.

Well, it turns out theres no such thing as too much imagination. So! Imagine me this: not only is this crazy new way of writing real , but you can learn how to do it. You could, with a little practice, figure out how to make your own worlds with your own rules. Youd be in charge, and you could do pretty much anything you could think of. Not only that, but if you got really good at it, people would come from all over to experience the worlds you built and use all the amazing things you created.