---
title: "Page 257 by pragdave, 2026-10-08"
page: 257
writers:
  - name: "pragdave"
    handle: "@pragdave"
date: 2026-10-08
canonical: "https://whysfoxes.github.io/whysfoxes_web/entries/257-pragdave/"
mastodon: "https://ruby.social/@whysfoxes/117407574929299759"
image: "https://whysfoxes.github.io/whysfoxes_web/_astro/117407568984745669.CALcvq1L_Z1k4J9b.jpeg"
---

# Page 257 by pragdave, 2026-10-08

Page 257 of why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby, the paperback guest book. Written by pragdave. Scanned, optimized and posted on 2026-10-08.

## Community message

> Code Ruby
> Be Happy!
> Dave

## From the post on ruby.social

Inside the back cover, after the book has run out of pages, @pragdave left the shortest manual there is, in black marker:

Dave Thomas, co-author of #ThePragmaticProgrammer and of the #Pickaxe, the book that carried #Ruby out of Japan and to the rest of us. Four words, no footnotes.

A fox reads it twice and finds nothing to refactor.

## Image

![Scan of page 257](https://whysfoxes.github.io/whysfoxes_web/_astro/117407568984745669.CALcvq1L_Z1k4J9b.jpeg)

## Writers

- pragdave (@pragdave): [Mastodon](https://hachyderm.io/@pragdave).

## Links

- [This page as HTML](https://whysfoxes.github.io/whysfoxes_web/entries/257-pragdave/)
- [The post on ruby.social](https://ruby.social/@whysfoxes/117407574929299759)