Are you a tester who spends more time manually creating complex test data than using it? A business analyst who seemingly went to college all those years so you can spend your days copying data from reports into spreadsheets? A programmer who can't finish each day's task without having to scan through version control system output, looking for the file you want?
If so, you're wasting that computer on your desk. Offload the drudgery to where it belongs, and free yourself to do what you should be doing: thinking. All you need is a scripting language (free!), this book (cheap!), and the dedication to work through the examples and exercises.
Everyday Scripting with Ruby is divided into four parts. In the first, you'll learn the basics of the Ruby scripting language. In the second, you'll see how to create scripts in a steady, controlled way using test-driven design. The third part is about finding, understanding, and using the work of others--and about preparing your scripts for others to use. The fourth part, more advanced, is about saving even more time by using application frameworks.
Brian Marick learned Ruby in 2001 because Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt, original authors of "Programming Ruby", wouldn't let him off a shuttle bus until he said he would. He's been programming in it ever since, and he's made a special effort to teach it to software testers. His previous book is "Everyday Scripting with Ruby", which began as a tutorial for those very testers. He's not a Ruby programmer by trade. He makes most of his money as a consultant in the Agile methodologies. (After getting off the shuttle bus, he was one of the authors of the "Manifesto for Agile Software Development.")
