I have just started reading what might be the best book ever written about a programming language. It's called Why's (Poignant) guide to Ruby, and is available for free under a CreativeCommons license.

I'm only up to the middle of chapter three right now, but I can already appreciate how brilliant this book is. I've never been so entertained whilst reading about a programing language. Till today, I had never had even the slightest interest in Ruby. But after starting this book, I'm itching to try it out, it just seems like such an elegant language.

Even if you have no great interest in Ruby or programming in general, you really should go read the first chapter or two because this is truly a gem of a read(get it? Ruby, gem... wakka wakka). And the book is free as in beer, so you have nothing to loose.

Here is a little exerpt to whet your curiosity:

Any plain, lowercase word is a variable in ruby. Variables may consist of letters, digits and underscores.

Variables are like nicknames. Remember when everyone used to call you Stinky Pete? People would say, “Get over here, Stinky Pete!” And everyone miraculously knew that Stinky Pete was you.

With variables, you give a nickname to something you use frequently.

Thanks to Simon Willison for the great find.