Next Week, March 12-16, CodeGear will be hosting a "live virtual developer conference". This is totally free, no cost or obligation -- and you don't have to travel to attend.
There are three talks that should be of particular interest to Ruby and Rails developers, as well as sessions on Ajax, Java, Databases, Delphi, .Net and many other topics.
Pre-register at http://www.TheCodeRage.com
Of particular interest:
A First Look at Ruby, by Jeremy McAnally Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 2:00pm-3:15pm Ruby's popularity is growing day by day, but so are the questions surrounding it: What's so great about it? Why use Ruby? How do I use Ruby? What can I use Ruby for? This session will attempt to answer some of those, by not only teaching attendees how to use the Ruby language, but also when and why.
Introduction to Ruby on Rails by Tim Breitkreutz Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 6:15am-7:30am An overview of the Ruby on Rails Web development framework, including the Ruby language, Rails model-view-controller structure, and the principles behind Rails. Find out why so many people find Rails development so fun and fast!
Advancing Ruby: Hacking Java Language Tools in Ruby by Bob Evans Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 2:00pm-3:15pm This session will assume that the user has at least a minimal knowledge of Ruby and a medium Java knowledge, though the techniques will be apparent regardless. This session explores building custom Java bytecode analysis tools using Ruby and the Java Virtual Machine Specification and how Ruby makes it a joy. We'll look at the various features of Ruby that make it good for language hacking from the looser syntax, to blocks and then to some meta-programming to reduce tedium. We'll also see how easy it is to test your code in Ruby. After this session, developers should have a good sense of some of the unique strengths of Ruby and how some of it's advanced features can be applied easily and practically.