I second this. Pine's book has good learning flow. It makes you think through programming problems with the tools at hand; it prepares you just enough for pract

I second this. Pine's book has good learning flow. It makes you think through programming problems with the tools at hand; it prepares you just enough for practice examples, requiring you to work hard for the answers. This results in a very fun and effective learning process, and a long-lasting knowledge of basic Ruby idioms.