D
Damian Terentyev
Good day!
First, let me apologise for some Japanese nationalism and Ruby=20
fanaticism, and do not be offended if I say something inappropriate.
It is worth noting that a person who created Ruby have originated from=20=
a distinct (Japanese) culture. And one of the key characteristics of=20
Japanese culture is its openness for adoption of other cultures. Many=20
great pieces of Japanese culture were taken from others and then=20
transformed by adding subtle differences, thus making them (IMHO)=20
perfect. Think about Zen Buddhism (a philosophy that came from China),=20=
or quality control (curiously, an American idea that originally didn't=20=
get support in the US and had to be adopted later from Japanese) =E2=80=94=
the=20
trend is obvious.
And I don't think it would be an exaggeration to see something similar=20=
in Ruby design. All Ruby's features were widely known and used in a=20
whole bunch of high-level languages, but it took a Japanese to unite=20
them together in such subtly unique way that was Ruby, and the result=20
was a (IMHO) perfect language.
Python has similar capabilities (and is even a little more advanced if=20=
we speak about Unicode support, and more mature if we speak about many=20=
third-party libraries available), but it doesn't make programming fun=20
as Ruby claims, and in fact, does. It is those small subtleties that=20
make this possible. The ability to write [1,2,3].length and=20
[1,2,3].size as it pleases you, those funny blocks instead of dull=20
for-loops or clumsy lambdas, optional use of parentheses =E2=80=94=C2=A0al=
l this=20
makes writing programs more natural and pleasant.
1. print is a statement in Python 2 and I can imagine no programmer who=20=
deliberately chooses to write print("boo") instead of just print "boo".=20=
And in Python 3 it's going to become a function so that only the former=20=
syntax will be correct. They say, to make it more readable. I don't=20
think lots of parentheses and brackets improve readability.
2. indentation eliminates multiple "end" clauses but makes pure python=20=
virtually unacceptable for use as a templating language. And again, I'm=20=
not sure that
if boo:
doo()
is more readable than simple "doo if boo"
3. can't understand why only in recent 2.5 Python became to agree with=20=
both "except" and "finally" clauses in exception handling.
These are the examples of constraints that Python puts on programmer's=20=
mind. They are not severe, but a creative mind searching for a solution=20=
doesn't want any limits at all! Ruby really gets out of your way when=20
you create programs. And maybe it is that freedom that makes=20
programming Ruby fun. And that's why there couldn't exist such thing as=20=
Python on Rails. Ruby attracts programmers that want to freely=20
experience their thoughts and have fun =E2=80=94 and this is why it =
yields such=20
original and convenient products.
An answer to the OP's questions =E2=80=94 why Ruby is not as wide-spread =
as=20
Python =E2=80=94 lies in two domains:
1. Aforementioned language barrier and Ruby's youn age in general.
2. Ruby's flexible syntax gives too much freedom =E2=80=94 and this may =
drive=20
away some less creative programmers that need something solid under=20
their feet. When you first com to Ruby you may become overwhelmed with=20=
all that freedom and panic
Thanks for your attention.
Your sincerely,
Damian/Three-eyed Fish=
First, let me apologise for some Japanese nationalism and Ruby=20
fanaticism, and do not be offended if I say something inappropriate.
It is worth noting that a person who created Ruby have originated from=20=
a distinct (Japanese) culture. And one of the key characteristics of=20
Japanese culture is its openness for adoption of other cultures. Many=20
great pieces of Japanese culture were taken from others and then=20
transformed by adding subtle differences, thus making them (IMHO)=20
perfect. Think about Zen Buddhism (a philosophy that came from China),=20=
or quality control (curiously, an American idea that originally didn't=20=
get support in the US and had to be adopted later from Japanese) =E2=80=94=
the=20
trend is obvious.
And I don't think it would be an exaggeration to see something similar=20=
in Ruby design. All Ruby's features were widely known and used in a=20
whole bunch of high-level languages, but it took a Japanese to unite=20
them together in such subtly unique way that was Ruby, and the result=20
was a (IMHO) perfect language.
Python has similar capabilities (and is even a little more advanced if=20=
we speak about Unicode support, and more mature if we speak about many=20=
third-party libraries available), but it doesn't make programming fun=20
as Ruby claims, and in fact, does. It is those small subtleties that=20
make this possible. The ability to write [1,2,3].length and=20
[1,2,3].size as it pleases you, those funny blocks instead of dull=20
for-loops or clumsy lambdas, optional use of parentheses =E2=80=94=C2=A0al=
l this=20
makes writing programs more natural and pleasant.
1. print is a statement in Python 2 and I can imagine no programmer who=20=
deliberately chooses to write print("boo") instead of just print "boo".=20=
And in Python 3 it's going to become a function so that only the former=20=
syntax will be correct. They say, to make it more readable. I don't=20
think lots of parentheses and brackets improve readability.
2. indentation eliminates multiple "end" clauses but makes pure python=20=
virtually unacceptable for use as a templating language. And again, I'm=20=
not sure that
if boo:
doo()
is more readable than simple "doo if boo"
3. can't understand why only in recent 2.5 Python became to agree with=20=
both "except" and "finally" clauses in exception handling.
These are the examples of constraints that Python puts on programmer's=20=
mind. They are not severe, but a creative mind searching for a solution=20=
doesn't want any limits at all! Ruby really gets out of your way when=20
you create programs. And maybe it is that freedom that makes=20
programming Ruby fun. And that's why there couldn't exist such thing as=20=
Python on Rails. Ruby attracts programmers that want to freely=20
experience their thoughts and have fun =E2=80=94 and this is why it =
yields such=20
original and convenient products.
An answer to the OP's questions =E2=80=94 why Ruby is not as wide-spread =
as=20
Python =E2=80=94 lies in two domains:
1. Aforementioned language barrier and Ruby's youn age in general.
2. Ruby's flexible syntax gives too much freedom =E2=80=94 and this may =
drive=20
away some less creative programmers that need something solid under=20
their feet. When you first com to Ruby you may become overwhelmed with=20=
all that freedom and panic
Thanks for your attention.
Your sincerely,
Damian/Three-eyed Fish=