Tech Workshops: Ruby – Rogue Tech Hub

Rob Head presented another great Tech Workshop on the Ruby Programming Language this afternoon. He started by having everyone log in to nitrous.io (an online IDE), and then began his presentation by talking about the basics of constants, variables and math operators to provide a frame of reference for students already familiar with other programming languages. He then moved on to demonstrate the language components (functions, methods, classes, etc.), and explained the unique aspects of the Ruby versions.

During Rob’s presentation, he touched on Ruby Gems, Ruby On Rails, TDD (Test-Driven Development; a very important concept to instill early-on in a programming career), and shared common conventions within the world of Ruby Programming.

What set this Tech Workshop apart from previous workshops was the use of a video capture device called Swivl. The device is designed to be mounted on a tripod and physically swivel, following via bluetooth the marker (containing an RFID chip) the speaker wears on a lanyard around their neck; however, the configuration of the lab space is not conducive to this setup. So, we used the back camera of the iPad and hung the primary marker in front of the projection screen (due to physical constraints of the lab ceiling) to capture the display in static mode and Rob, wearing the secondary marker (which is not tracked but picks up sound), moved into the space to highlight various points. A bit awkward, but we captured the audio of the presentation. Video link is coming soon. For more details on the content, please visit: https://github.com/roberthead/ruby_on_rails_tutorial.

Rob also provided text references to books dealing with Ruby on various levels: beginner, experienced, playful introduction, documentation, and Ruby Gems.

We wish to thank Rob for taking time out of his very busy schedule (he’s taking 14 credits this term, works, and has a family) to prepare and present this excellent Ruby Tech Workshop.

See you next month for the Refactoring Tech Workshop, conducted by Randy Coulman (code name “Refactron”) of Zeal (row 2, column 2 on the Zeal Team Page; click the logo to navigate to the Zeal Home Page). Be there (Marion Ady Building, MA110, in the SOU Art Complex)! Be on time (3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)! Mark your calendar (Second Thursday, May 12, 2016)! Be ready to learn how to tighten-up your code!