Ask HN: Why is Ruby so poorly documented?

📰 Hacker News · znpy

Ruby's documentation is limited, making it challenging for newcomers to learn, especially compared to Python's extensive resources.

beginner Published 5 Jan 2023
Action Steps
  1. Visit the Ruby documentation website (ruby-lang.org) to explore available resources
  2. Read the online version of the Pickaxe book (ProgrammingRuby) for an introduction to Ruby, despite it being outdated (Ruby 1.6)
  3. Search for alternative resources, such as Ruby Koans, to supplement learning
  4. Join online communities, like Ruby subreddit or Stack Overflow, to ask questions and get help from experienced Ruby developers
  5. Use online tutorials and blogs, like Ruby Tutorial by Tutorialspoint, to fill gaps in official documentation
Who Needs to Know This

Developers new to Ruby, especially those familiar with Python, will benefit from understanding the current state of Ruby documentation and how to navigate available resources.

Key Insight

💡 Ruby's documentation is not as comprehensive as other languages like Python, but alternative resources and online communities can help fill the gap.

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🤔 Why is Ruby's documentation so limited? 📚👀

Key Takeaways

Ruby's documentation is limited, making it challenging for newcomers to learn, especially compared to Python's extensive resources.

Full Article

I need to pick up ruby for work, and headed to ruby-lang.org. I've mostly worked with Python so far, and my best companions have been the Python tutorial (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html), the library reference (https://docs.python.org/3/library/index.html) and the language reference (https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html). I was very surprised to see that on ruby-lang.org there is practically no equivalent o the Python tutorial. The closest thing is the on-line version of the pickaxe book (https://ruby-doc.com/docs/ProgrammingRuby/) which is about Ruby 1.6, released in September 2000. There are a myriad of other small or smaller resources (koans and stuff) but no just-sit-down-and-read-all-this document. So the question is... Why is ruby so poorly documented? How is one supposed to learn ruby nowadays, properly ?
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