Confident Ruby now in Alpha

Last year I gave a talk entitled “Confident Code” at several conferences and other venues, including RubyNation, RailsConf, Cascadia RubyConf, and Ruby Midwest. Judging by the talk reviews linked above, people seemed to like it. Some of them have said very nice things to me about the talk:

@avdi‘s talk on “Confident Code” was the highlight for me today at #railsconf haven’t felt that inspired since reading Clean Code

— Nicholas Henry (@nicholasjhenry) May 17, 2011

@avdi Confident Code is one of the best talks I’ve seen so far. Excellent content and presentation, far exceeding my expectations #railsconf

— Josh Martin (@Skizzles) May 17, 2011

Love the eloquent case that @avdi is making for the joy of expressive, pure, and clean code. #rubymidwest

— Noel Rappin (@noelrap) November 5, 2011

There’s a reason I keep @avdi‘s Confident Code talk on my iPad. Every time I hear it I pick up something new from it. #rubymidwest

— Arlen Walker (@Arlen) November 5, 2011

@avdi showed some really great coding patterns.Love the Maybe stuff; it’s so elegant in Ruby #rubymidwest

— ❺➠ David Copeland (@davetron5000) November 5, 2011

Here’s a video of the talk, if you’re curious. The topic is code construction, that nitty-gritty design that goes into the “ground level” of code: the individual method. In the talk, I propose that good methods are methods with a consistent, straightforward narrative structure. I talk about the four parts of a method, and then spend the rest of the talk presenting techniques for writing methods which tell a confident and clear story.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8J0j2xJFgQ

Something else I hear a lot about the talk is: “so now that Exceptional Ruby is out, when are you going to turn Confident Code” into a book?

The answer to that question is: now. Or more accurately, over the next couple of months. And the name of that book is: Confident Ruby.

Every publication is an experiment for me, so once again I’m going to do a few things differently than I have in the past. Namely:

• Available from inception: Instead of waiting until I have a full draft to start selling it, as I did with Exceptional Ruby and Objects on Rails, Confident Ruby goes on sale right now, starting out with just the introduction. Beta buyers will receive periodic updates as I complete sections.
• Schedule: my last couple of books were done when they were done. For Confident Ruby, I’m setting an aggressive deadline of being “content complete” by August 1,  2012, and a final release by September 1.
• Pricing: In the past I’ve kept my prices low. This has worked out very well so far; but this time around I’m experimenting with higher prices. I am selling the alpha/beta versions for $25 USD. I may raise that price further after the final release.
• Pay with a postcard: For those who don’t have the budget for a $25 ebook, I’ll be offering a second option. Send me a handwritten picture postcard from wherever you are, with your email address, and I’ll send you a copy of the book.

Would like to start reading now, and follow along as I flesh out the book? Click below to purchase immediately:

UPDATE 2013-08-26: Confident Ruby is done! Go here to purchase a copy.

Want to take me up on my “pay with a postcard” option instead? Send me an email with “Confident Ruby Postcard Offer” in the subject, and you’ll receive the address to send it to, along with further instructions.

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