Torn in two - Pythonist

[Doug Bromley]

You probably get this question all the time or some version of it.=20
I've been hovering in this mailing list for a time just to get a feel
for the community.
I must say I'm pretty impressed. Its friendly, very active and I've
learnt a lot.

However, I'm a Pythonist and I must admit Ruby is still a little
unusual in its syntax. Am I missing out? Should I jump ship? Has
anyone else been in my position and taken the plunge by converting?

I'd be grateful for your input.

All the best.

Doug

 

[Bill Kelly]

Hi,

Welcome,

However, I'm a Pythonist and I must admit Ruby is still a little
unusual in its syntax. Am I missing out? Should I jump ship? Has
anyone else been in my position and taken the plunge by converting?

It doesn't necessarily have to be a baptism. Unless your personal
beliefs dictate otherwise, you could prolly just try Ruby on the
side and see how you like it. Maybe do a ruby quiz, or pick some
small utility you've found you have a need for and see if you like
writing Ruby code.


Regards,

Bill

 

[Jules Jacobs]

Ruby and Python are very similar. There are some minor differences
(muliple inheritance/mixins, etc). The major difference, however, is
that Ruby has blocks.

Like this:

[1, 2, 3].map{|i| i * 2}
=>
[2, 4, 6]

You would probably do this with a list comprehension in Python. This is
one of the tasks of blocks in Ruby.

Another difference is that you cannot access instance variables of an
object from the outside world. All communication goes through methods.

If you compare Ruby and Python, the number of differences is relatively
low, however.

Jules

 

[tsumeruby]

Ruby and Python are very similar.

A few particular items Ruby has which Python nor Perl don't have is decent
propaganda against other languages.

http://po-ru.com/diary/ruby-propaganda/
http://www.archive.org/details/rubyanewdanger



Tsume

 

[James Britt]

A few particular items Ruby has which Python nor Perl don't have is decent
propaganda against other languages.

http://po-ru.com/diary/ruby-propaganda/

WARNING: Blatant $promotional content approaching!

And cooler schwag:

http://rubystuff.com/
http://rubystuff.com/shoplist.html

This might be of special interest:

http://www.cafepress.com/pythonrehab

http://www.archive.org/details/rubyanewdanger

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

http://www.cafepress.com/ruby_dangerous
http://www.cafepress.com/rubyshootout

 

[Phil Tomson]

You probably get this question all the time or some version of it.=20
I've been hovering in this mailing list for a time just to get a feel
for the community.
I must say I'm pretty impressed. Its friendly, very active and I've
learnt a lot.

However, I'm a Pythonist and I must admit Ruby is still a little
unusual in its syntax. Am I missing out? Should I jump ship? Has
anyone else been in my position and taken the plunge by converting?

Don't think of it as jumping ship. Think of it as going over to check out the
other side of the catamaran.

This dynamic-language catamaran has many pontoons and you are free to move
about them. Just remember to keep your lifejacket on.

Phil

 

[Schüle Daniel]

You probably get this question all the time or some version of it.
I've been hovering in this mailing list for a time just to get a feel
for the community.
I must say I'm pretty impressed. Its friendly, very active and I've
learnt a lot.

However, I'm a Pythonist and I must admit Ruby is still a little
unusual in its syntax. Am I missing out? Should I jump ship? Has
anyone else been in my position and taken the plunge by converting?

no need to bind yourself to one, use both
one will help you to better understand the another

I can remember my first tries with Python
coming from C and C++ it took some mind bending to grasp it
as soon as I became fluent in it I did't used C++ much
though one important thing .. I learned a great deal about C++
as well by learning Python
when I tried Ruby I was used to dynamic in the language so
I didn't took much to learn it (great thanks to irb ;-)

Ruby and Python are indeed similar in many ways
some ideas are better expressed with Python others with Ruby

I'd be grateful for your input.

don't take it too seriosly
afer all they are just tools

my 2 cents