You're reading from Polished Ruby Programming Build better software with more intuitive, maintainable, scalable, and high-performance Ruby code

Product type Paperback

Published in Jul 2021

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781801072724

Length 434 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

Ruby

Concepts

Programming Language

Author (1):

Jeremy Evans

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Table of Contents (23) Chapters

Preface

1. Section 1: Fundamental Ruby Programming Principles

2. Chapter 1: Getting the Most out of Core Classes FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 2: Designing Useful Custom Classes

4. Chapter 3: Proper Variable Usage

5. Chapter 4: Methods and Their Arguments

6. Chapter 5: Handling Errors

7. Chapter 6: Formatting Code for Easy Reading

8. Section 2: Ruby Library Programming Principles

9. Chapter 7: Designing Your Library

10. Chapter 8: Designing for Extensibility

11. Chapter 9: Metaprogramming and When to Use It

12. Chapter 10: Designing Useful Domain-Specific Languages

13. Chapter 11: Testing to Ensure Your Code Works

14. Chapter 12: Handling Change

15. Chapter 13: Using Common Design Patterns

16. Chapter 14: Optimizing Your Library

17. Section 3: Ruby Web Programming Principles

18. Chapter 15: The Database Is Key

19. Chapter 16: Web Application Design Principles

20. Chapter 17: Robust Web Application Security

21. Assessments

22. Other Books You May Enjoy

Focusing on the user experience

The most important aspect when designing a Ruby library is to understand how the user will be using it, and trying to simplify that usage as much as possible. Making your library easy to use actually starts even before the user uses the library. It starts when the user first hears about the library and wants to learn more about it. In order to learn about the library, the first thing they'll probably do is search for it using the library name.

Library naming

It may be unfortunate, but one of the most important aspects of your library is its name. Ideally, the name should be short and easy to pronounce and spell, not be used by any other Ruby library, and ideally not be used in other remotely popular technology. If your library name is long or difficult to spell, users may give up looking for it even before they try it.

If your library name is used by another Ruby library, you won't have any issues creating a repository, but when the...