This is turning out to be a busy week. My chat with Jared Norman on the Dead Code podcast is out! You can find it in all of the usual podcast places. bsky.app/profile/dead...

Not everyone loves games. Why should programming examples assume they do? @russolsen.bsky.social on using real-life, relatable examples that actually make code stick.

AI hates my writing. The feeling is mutual.

Me, going on about the importance of technical explanations. field15.com/your-most-im...

I'm as fond as the next person at laughing at people who make predictions that are wildly off the mark. But every now and then they do get it right. This is from the July, 1985 issue of Unix Review.

And (finally!) the paperback version of Overdrive is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Overdrive-Li...

In 1994 a comet hit Jupiter. And we got to see it happen. Originally a single giant dirty snowball, the comet broke up as it screamed in. This picture was taken by a telescope in Hawaii and is in the near-infrared. The line of bright dots at the bottom are where bits of the comet hit.

And it looks like the paperback version of my novel *Overdrive* will be available from Amazon on Dec 24th! Kobo version coming as soon as it gets through the quality checks. www.amazon.com/Overdrive-Li...

After many false starts and missed dates*, the paperback edition of my novel Overdrive will be ready in the next few days! * It's almost like a software project!

For all of you who have purchased the beta copy of Eloquent Ruby, Second Edition, there is an updated version coming soon. The new version includes a ton of corrections and a newly rewritten chapter on Ruby implementations. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, then now's the time eloquentruby.com

This is a navigation photo taken by Voyager 1 as it passed by Io, a moon of Jupiter. Engineer Linda Morabito wondered just what the the heck the round thing on the left was? Another moon behind Io? It turned out to be a 300 km hi plume from the first active volcano ever seen outside of Earth.

This is the Gemini 7 spaceship, photographed from Gemini 6. There were two people in Gemini 6 and two in Gemini 7, so four people total. At the time (1965) that was the record for most people in space at the same time. Four.

This is Gene Cernan just back in the ship after walking on the Moon. Notice that he is more or less filthy. I've read a lot of classic (pre Moon landing) sci fi, but I'm not sure anyone predicted that moon dust would be sticky.

If your current job isn't teaching you something new, or leaving you the time and energy to teach yourself something new, then you are the economic equivalent of an oil well: Valuable until you are exhausted and then worthless. Don't be an oil well.

There is a story that the novelist Joseph Heller, when informed that some hedge fund manager made more money in one day than Heller's Catch-22 would earn in its whole history replied: “Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . enough.” Today, I am thankful that I have enough.

Spending hours with ChatGPT can save you minutes of reading the documentation.

This picture gets me every time. This is the Apollo 11 ascent module in the foreground with the Earth in the far distance. There are 2 guys in the ascent module and several billion people on the little blue dot. That's absolutely everyone, except the guy taking the picture.

In working on the second edition of Eloquent Ruby, I decided to add a bit of coverage of Sonic-Pi, the wonderful live coding music generation tool built around Ruby. Of course I had to install it again and play around with it. 6 Hours Later Well, not a lot of writing got done today.

The fine folks at the Pragmatic Press, publishers of both Getting Clojure and the (so far) beta version of Eloquent Ruby (along with many others) are running their annual 50% off sale. So hurry on over and use the coupon code save50 on the checkout page! pragprog.com

In working on the Eloquent Ruby chapter on Ruby implementations, I came across this in wonderful bit of code in the MRI VM. I don't often laugh at a program for a full minute, but I made an exception here. eloquentruby.com

The key thing about reality is that it doesn't need a PR staff. Rule of thumb: If a company, particularly a large company, spends a lot of time and money telling its employees that something is true, that is prima faca evidence that it's baloney.

I'm working on the Eloquent Ruby chapter that discusses the various Ruby implementations. Which means that I'm digging into the source code for MRI for the first time in about a decade. I think last time I looked it was version 1.9.something. Now it's 3.4+.

I am so excited for this book, it's so great!

This was the book that really made me understand idiomatic Ruby looks like early in my career. Looking forward to reading the new edition.

I don't normally get angry about the media, who are doing a difficult job in a difficult environment. But if you see a story where one scientist says one thing, and literally everyone else says another, and you decide to write it up, well, Jed, I don't even want to know you.

It's official! The beta release of Eloquent Ruby, 2nd edition is now on sale! pragprog.com/titles/eruby...

Putting the finishing touches on the beta release of 2nd edition of Eloquent Ruby, which should be available sometime in the next couple of weeks. This has been a long, long journey but the finish line is at least out there on the horizon. I mean, who writes a book with 746 separate code examples?

There are things that everyone knows. These are the things that nobody talks about. Which is why not everyone knows what "everyone knows." You know?

In other news, the print version of my novel Overdrive is almost ready. And it has a different cover! www.amazon.com/Overdrive-Li...

The 2nd edition of Eloquent Ruby has a cover!

Eloquent Ruby update: We are edging towards a beta release, probably early to mid Nov. One. Page. At. A. Time.

Somehow I've lived in this neighborhood for years without noticing just how cool the people down the street are...

@antiheroine.bsky.social Hey do you have any recommendations for a converter and ink for that LAMY pen you talked me into buying? I'm going thru 2-3 cartridges a week...

I've released the framework that I used to create the epub/kindle version of my recent novel, Overdrive, up on github. So if you have ever had the urge to write a novel in markdown, this is your lucky day. github.com/russolsen/bo...

How do you get people truly excited about functional programming? @russolsen.bsky.social & @boicy.bovon.org share fresh insights you won’t want to miss.

Between working on the Eloquent Ruby and the novel Overdrive, I've been struck by how much overlap there is between writing fiction and technical stuff. The one needs to be entertaining, flow from scene to scene and pop up with surprises every now and then. The other is a long made-up story.

Eloquent Ruby 2nd edition update: Just finished the first draft of the pattern matching chapter. It's a bit like squeezing out that last bit of toothpaste, from the point of view of the tube. But also fun

I came across an old shirt while cleaning out my closet, had a wave of nostalgia.

2/5. "Functional Programming in 40 Minutes • Russ Olsen • GOTO 2024" ⸱ +3k views ⸱ 09 Jul 2025 ⸱ https://youtube.com/watch?v=QujM1S3tP-I @gotocon.com @russolsen.bsky.social

I keep getting these "Unlock AI for just $10!!!!" type ads. I keep asking how much it would cost to throw away the key...

Here's another in my somewhat erratic updates on the second edition of Eloquent Ruby: We've passed the half way mark on the first draft. Sixteen out of thirty one chapters done. Getting there. One. Page. At. A. Time.

In other news, the kindle version of my novel Overdrive went on sale today. Make sure you order your copy before supplies run out! www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGY8ZPM...

I'm pretty much convinced that when the history of the 21st century is written, Amazon's main contribution will be recognized as supplying inexpensive cardboard for creative prototyping. Mockup of a frame for a raw lcd screen.

So my novel, Overdrive, is available for preorder on Amazon. It will be out next Monday, July 14. It will also be available on Kindle Unlimited for 90 days. www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGY8ZPM...

... and my "coming soon" novel, Overdrive, now has a cover!

In other news, I've finally managed to finish a novel. Writing, not reading. It's a lighthearted science fiction story set more or less in the present. So keep an eye out for Overdrive, coming to a ebook retailer near you, soon.

And here is the second of what I can absolutely guarantee will be an erratic series of updates on the progress of the 2nd edition of #EloquentRuby: Of the 32 chapters that we think are going to end up in the book, @baweaver.bsky.social and I have a 1st draft of 11. So 1/3rd ish of the way there.

Here's the first of what promises to be an erratic series of updates on the progress of the 2nd edition of #EloquentRuby: So far, @baweaver.bsky.social and I have gotten most of the infrastructure up and running and have been through roughly 10% of the book.

Anybody remember what it was like to use subversion? No? Well good for you!

I find that this is a somewhat unpopular opinion but I think that your testing frameworks should be the simplest bit of kit in your toolbox. We all want powerful testing tools. But there is nothing worse than discovering that the fault lies not in your code but in your testing tool.