Build Awesome Command-Line Applications in Ruby

Control Your Sputer, Simplify Your Life

By: David B. Copeland

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Paperback | 31 May 2012

At a Glance

Paperback
225 Pages

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28.1 x 20.7 x 4.7

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Speak directly to your system. With its simple commands, flags, and parameters, a well-formed command-line application is the quickest way to automate a backup, a build, or a deployment and simplify your life.

As Ruby pro David Copeland explains, writing a command-line application that is self-documenting, robust, adaptable and forever useful is easier than you might think. Ruby is particularly suited to this task, since it combines high-level abstractions with "close to the metal" system interaction wrapped up in a concise, readable syntax. Moreover, Ruby has the support of a rich ecosystem of open-source tools and libraries.

Ten insightful chapters each explain and demonstrate a command-line best practice. You'll see how to use these tools to elevate the lowliest automation script to a maintainable, polished application.

You'll learn how to use free, open source parsers to create user-friendly command-line interfaces as well as command suites. You'll see how to use defaults to keep options simple for everyday users, while giving advanced users options for more complex tasks.

There's no reason a command-line application should lack documentation, whether it's part of a help command or a man page; you'll find out when and how to use both. Your journey from command-line novice to pro ends with a look at valuable approaches to testing your apps, and includes some fun techniques for outside-the-box, colorful interfaces that will delight your users.

With Ruby, the command line is not dead. Long live the command line.

What You Need:

All you'll need is Ruby, and the ability to install a few gems along the way. Examples written for Ruby 1.9.2, but 1.8.7 should work just as well.

Industry Reviews

""I know of no other Ruby book that covers the content in this useful work, especially with its eye toward making Ruby command-line applications better citizens.""--Noel Rappin, Senior engineer at Groupon and author of "Rails Test Prescriptions"

""This book proves that text mode is not the just the domain of batch scripts and glue code. Beyond the extensive survey of current Ruby CLI tools, David brings an unmatched focus on user experience and testing. Every full-stack developer should learn how to build the kinds of apps covered in this book.""--Wynn Netherland, CTO, Pure Charity

""David Copeland has written a guide to writing the kind of command-line apps that will make your users want to hug you...this book will show you how to take your scripts from adequate to awesome.""--Avdi Grimm, Ruby Developer and author of "Exceptional Ruby"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Computing & I.T.Computer Programming & Software Development Web Programming Programming & Scripting Languages Booktopia Publisher Services John Wiley & Sons Publishers UK

Introduction	p. vii
Have a Clear and Concise Purpose	p. 1
Problem 1: Backing Up Data	p. 2
Problem 2: Managing Tasks	p. 5
What Makes an Awesome Command-Line App	p. 10
Moving On	p. 11
Be Easy to Use	p. 13
Understanding the Command Line: Options, Arguments, and Commands	p. 13
Building an Easy-to-Use Command-Line Interface	p. 18
Building an Easy-to-Use Command-Suite Interface	p. 23
Moving On	p. 31
Be Helpful	p. 33
Documenting a Command-Line Interface	p. 33
Documenting a Command Suite	p. 38
Including a Man Page	p. 42
Writing Good Help Text and Documentation	p. 47
Moving On	p. 50
Play Well with Others	p. 53
Using Exit Codes to Report Success or Failure	p. 54
Using the Standard Output and Error Streams Appropriately	p. 59
Formatting Output for Use as Input to Another Program	p. 63
Trapping Signals Sent from Other Apps	p. 68
Moving On	p. 69
Delight Casual Users	p. 71
Choosing Names for Options and Commands	p. 72
Choosing Default Values for Flags and Arguments	p. 76
Deciding Default Behavior	p. 86
Moving On	p. 86
Make Configuration Easy	p. 89
Why External Configuration?	p. 89
Reading External Configuration from Files	p. 90
Using Configuration Files with Command Suites	p. 94
Design Considerations When Using Configuration	p. 98
Moving On	p. 99
Distribute Painlessly	p. 101
Distributing with RubyGems	p. 101
Distributing Without RubyGems	p. 108
Collaborating with Other Developers	p. 109
Moving On	p. 115
Test, Test, Test	p. 117
Testing User Behavior with Acceptance Tests	p. 118
Testing in Isolation with Unit Tests	p. 131
A Word About Test-Driven Development	p. 139
Moving On	p. 139
Be Easy to Maintain	p. 141
Dividing Code into Multiple Files	p. 141
Designing Code for Maintainability	p. 146
Moving On	p. 151
Add Color, Formatting, and Interactivity	p. 153
Adding Color Using ANSI Escape Sequences	p. 154
Formatting Output with Tables	p. 159
Providing Interactive User Input with readline	p. 164
Moving On	p. 173
Common Command-Line Gems and Libraries	p. 175
Alternatives for Simple Command-Line Apps	p. 176
Alternatives for Command Suites	p. 184
Other Relevant Libraries	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 193
Index	p. 195
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Build Awesome Command-Line Applications in Ruby

Control Your Sputer, Simplify Your Life

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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