1. Writing and Running Ruby Programs

Overview

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to use the Interactive Ruby Shell (IRB) to write Ruby programs; execute Ruby code with a Ruby interpreter using Ruby (.rb) files; implement variables, literals, and constants in Ruby programs; use standard data types, such as numbers, Booleans, and strings, in Ruby programs; execute basic arithmetic operations on integer and floating-point numbers, implement string concatenation and interpolation in Ruby programs.

This chapter introduces the basics of Ruby and serves as a firm foundation to build the complex code that you will encounter later in the book.