You can start learning Ruby without paying for a book, but the right choice depends on what you already know and which Ruby version you want to use. For someone new to programming, Ruby’s official site points to Chris Pine’s Learn to Program. From there, beginner guides, practical books, and historical internals references offer different paths—not one current, tested ranking.
How to choose a free Ruby book
Before choosing a title, check four things: your programming experience, the book’s focus, the Ruby version in its examples, and whether the free online text is complete and accessible. Some books also have paid print or electronic editions; buying one is optional when a free reading copy is available.
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- New to programming: Start with a book that explains programming concepts before assuming you know another language.
- Know another language: Look for Ruby fundamentals, then move on to idioms, object-oriented design, or blocks and modules.
- Want internals or metaprogramming: Choose a specialized text, but distinguish historical interpreter study from current application guidance.
- Need current examples: Confirm the edition and Ruby version. The official Ruby site highlights Programming Ruby 3.3, while some free texts cover much older versions.
The LinuxLinks roundup was published May 1, 2019, and describes free reading options alongside some paid formats. Its list is best treated as a discovery starting point: the available information does not establish a current, hands-on ranking or confirm that every link remains available.
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Learn to Program by Chris Pine
Ruby-lang.org specifically recommends this tutorial for programming newcomers. It is the clearest first stop if you have never written code, because you can learn basic programming ideas before taking on a Ruby reference or a book that assumes prior experience. Afterward, try a Ruby-focused fundamentals text and write small programs of your own.
#1 Best Overall
Learn Ruby the Hard Way by Zed A. Shaw
The roundup describes this as suitable for programming beginners and available to read for free. Paper versions are also mentioned, but the video lectures are excluded from the free reading offer. Check the version and availability of the edition you find before using its examples as a guide to current Ruby.
The Little Book of Ruby by Huw Collingbourne
This fundamentals-oriented guide covers strings, numbers, objects, methods, classes, arrays, hashes, iterators, modules, and mixins. It can serve as a compact next step once you understand basic programming concepts.
Rank #2
I Love Ruby by A. K. Karthikeyan
This is an introductory option, and the roundup says its examples were designed for Ruby 2.5. The roundup also mentions online access as well as paper and Kindle editions. Treat the version note as a useful check: examples written for Ruby 2.5 may not match a newer installation exactly.
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The Book of Ruby: A Hands-on Guide for the Adventurous by Huw Collingbourne
The book moves from types, data structures, and control flow toward blocks, mixins, and metaclasses. The roundup describes it as a 425-page PDF organized into 20 chapters. That makes its scope broad, but page count alone does not indicate how well it will suit your learning style.
Rank #3
Ruby Best Practices by Gregory T. Brown
This book focuses on idioms and real codebases, with material on API and domain-specific language design and functional programming ideas. The roundup reports that the original site had been down and that a PDF copy was available. Check whether the copy you find is complete and whether its examples fit the Ruby version you are using.
Programming Ruby – The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt
The roundup describes the original book as both a tutorial and a reference to built-in classes, modules, methods, and standard libraries, and says its material is distributed under the Open Publication License. Do not assume the original edition is a current reference: Ruby-lang.org separately highlights Programming Ruby 3.3, updated to Ruby 3.3. Check the edition before relying on version-specific details.
Rank #4
Ruby Programming from Wikibooks
This online resource ranges from installation and syntax basics to reference material and more advanced subjects such as unit testing, C extensions, and embedding Ruby in C. Its breadth can make it useful as a lookup resource as well as a place to explore topics beyond the basics.
Explore Ruby’s style, metaprogramming, and internals
why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby by why the lucky stiff
This unconventional, open-source introduction uses stories, humor, and comics. Its distinctive presentation may make Ruby approachable for some readers and distracting for others. Ruby-lang.org also lists it under older reading and resources, so pair it with current documentation when checking language details.
Best Value
Kestrels, Quirky Birds, and Hopeless Egocentricity by Reg “raganwald” Braithwaite
This collection explores combinatory logic, method combinators, and Ruby metaprogramming. The roundup notes a suggested price as well as a free download and an MIT License. It is a specialized choice for readers who want to explore advanced techniques, not a first Ruby tutorial.
Ruby Hacking Guide by Aoki-san
This is for readers interested in how Ruby’s interpreter works. Its scope is explicitly historical—Ruby 1.7.x–1.8.x internals—and the guide was originally written in Japanese and translated into English. The roundup identifies some chapters as previews. Use it for low-level historical study, not as a description of current Ruby internals or everyday application development.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A sensible route through the books
- If you have never programmed: Begin with Chris Pine’s Learn to Program, the starting point recommended on Ruby-lang.org.
- Learn Ruby fundamentals: Continue with an introductory text such as The Little Book of Ruby, I Love Ruby, or Learn Ruby the Hard Way. Check each text’s version and format before you begin.
- Practice with small programs: Apply the basics in short projects, using official Ruby documentation to check syntax and behavior for your installed version.
- Choose a specialty: Move to practical idioms with Ruby Best Practices, broader coverage with The Book of Ruby, or metaprogramming with Braithwaite’s essays. Choose the Ruby Hacking Guide only if historical interpreter internals are your goal.
- Use a version-matched reference: Compare the book’s edition with the Ruby version you are learning. Ruby-lang.org highlights Programming Ruby 3.3 as updated to Ruby 3.3 and provides links to current language documentation.
Check versions and access before relying on a text
Older books can still teach concepts, but code and library details may be tied to the version they cover. The contrast is especially clear between the Ruby Hacking Guide’s Ruby 1.7.x–1.8.x internals and I Love Ruby’s Ruby 2.5 examples. Neither should be mistaken for a guide to current Ruby behavior. Use version-specific official documentation alongside older material, and test examples in the Ruby version you actually have installed.
Free online reading and paid formats can coexist. The roundup mentions paper versions of Learn Ruby the Hard Way and paper and Kindle editions of I Love Ruby; those purchases are not prerequisites for using the free reading options it describes. Confirm that a copy is complete and available before planning a course around it.
Ruby-lang.org’s reading list offers another way to compare levels and subjects: it has beginner, intermediate, and expert sections and includes titles such as The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby, Metaprogramming Ruby, and Ruby Under a Microscope. These are additional official-site recommendations, not claims about the membership of the LinuxLinks roundup. The official page also describes the first edition of Programming Ruby as freely available online and lists several older resources, including Learn Ruby the Hard Way, why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby, and the Ruby Programming Wikibook.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Ruby-lang.org documentation and reading recommendations
- LinuxLinks: 20 Recommended Free Books to Learn about Ruby
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