"An enjoyable book that can turn any kid (or adult!) into a programming wizard."

—Kirkus Reviews

"Vibrant and visually engaging, with chuckle-worthy asides...instructive and kid-friendly."

—School Library Journal

"This is the programming book I've been waiting for!"

—Gail Carmichael, Carleton University faculty and Board Advisor for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (Read more)

Look Inside!

The Ruby programming language is perfect for beginners: easy to learn, powerful, and fun to use! But wouldn't it be more fun if you were learning with the help of some wizards and dragons?

Ruby Wizardry is a playful, illustrated tale that will teach you how to program in Ruby by taking you on a fantastical journey. As you follow the adventures of young heroes Ruben and Scarlet, you’ll learn real programming skills, like how to:

Use fundamental concepts like variables, symbols, arrays, and strings

Work with Ruby hashes to create a programmable breakfast menu

Control program flow with loops and conditionals to help the Royal Plumber

Test your wild and crazy ideas in IRB and save your programs as scripts

Create a class of mini-wizards, each with their own superpower!

Organize and reuse your code with methods and lists

Write your own amazing interactive stories using Ruby

Along the way, you’ll meet colorful characters from around the kingdom, like the hacker Queen, the Off-White Knight, and Wherefore the minstrel. Ruby Wizardry will have you (or your little wizard) hooked on programming in no time.

For ages 10+ (and their parents!)