What does NASA use Ruby for?

[Bil Kleb]

(I sent this via comp.lang.ruby in June, but it didn't seem to
make it to the mailing list..)

For everything we can.

Lately, I managed to use it to typeset the survey results
from the Edward Tufte's Presenting Data and Information class
NASA Langley hosted last January.

The gory details are at

http://www.engin.umich.edu/~kleb/TufteSurvey/

Please critique the code if you're up to it. It wasn't built
test-first, so it is quite sloppy. It was also my first foray
into writing LaTeX with Ruby and hooking into XML.

Regardless, it was a joy: Thanks Matz!


Other uses we've found for Ruby that I can immediately recall:

test/unit for C-code test-first development

rolled our own xUnit testing framework for Fortran 9X

documenting Fortran 9X source via a plugin to Rdoc (thanks Dave!)

automating one of our computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes
so that we can analyze shuttle tile damage quickly and reliably

Fortran Code runners

Fortran makefile dependency generation

automatically convert our http://fun3d.larc.nasa.gov/ CFD Fortran
code to complex variables for design optimization

Beowulf cluster monitoring scripts

CVS helper scripts, e.g., coding standard commit sentinel, code
clean-up, log summaries, plot usage generation, rewind files, and
dependency graph generation via Graphviz.

Refactoring Fortran code

Continuous integration and build scripts

CFD for simple model equations (code available upon request)

Regards,

 

[Joel VanderWerf]

(I sent this via comp.lang.ruby in June, but it didn't seem to
make it to the mailing list..)

It definitely did make it to the mailing list. I saved the original
message to read when I needed a lift (and to use as a good advertisement
for ruby).

 

[Rando Christensen]

For everything we can.

That's really cool.

 

[Sean Russell]

For everything we can.

Lately, I managed to use it to typeset the survey results
from the Edward Tufte's Presenting Data and Information class
NASA Langley hosted last January.

What inquiring minds in *this* group want to know, is whether NASA is
hiring Ruby programmers.

What could possibly be cooler than being a Ruby programmer *at* NASA,
I ask you. Man. Can you imagine? "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Ruby programmer for NASA."

Now, if you'll excuse me, my fantasies and I need to be alone for a
while.

--- SER

 

[Hal Fulton]

What could possibly be cooler than being a Ruby programmer *at* NASA,
I ask you.

Being a Ruby programmer in-flight on the first Mars mission.


Hal
(who has been rereading Kim Stanley Robinson)

 

[Lennon Day-Reynolds]

I have a friend who (until very recently) worked at NASA Ames, and he
was jealous that I was getting to use Ruby at work instead of C++,
though he probably would have preferred Perl.

Lennon

 

[Ara.T.Howard]

What inquiring minds in *this* group want to know, is whether NASA is hiring
Ruby programmers.

What could possibly be cooler than being a Ruby programmer *at* NASA, I ask
you. Man. Can you imagine? "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Ruby programmer for NASA."

Now, if you'll excuse me, my fantasies and I need to be alone for a while.

here in boulder there are alot of research facilities. they hire fortran
programmers, perl programmers, c programmers, etc. i got hired as a perl and
c programmer for noaa for a position requiring a phd in biology (i don't have
phd and have barely studied biology). after about two days my boss came in
and said 'can you do this task in two hours' - i said 'sure', but only in ruby
(which was the truth). the task was completed and i haven't written a
character of perl since. moral: research facilities are often open to new
approaches and job descriptions are often not correct - so it's not a bad
idea to just go for it!

regards.

-a
--
===============================================================================
| EMAIL :: Ara [dot] T [dot] Howard [at] noaa [dot] gov
| PHONE :: 303.497.6469
| A flower falls, even though we love it;
| and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
| --Dogen
===============================================================================

 

[Gavin Sinclair]

It definitely did make it to the mailing list. I saved the original
message to read when I needed a lift (and to use as a good advertisement
for ruby).

Advertisement here:

http://www.rubygarden.org/ruby?WhatDoesNasaUseRubyFor



Gavin

 

[Sean Russell]

Being a Ruby programmer in-flight on the first Mars mission.

Ok, you win.

Although, you'd get more opportunity to boast at conventions if you stayed on Earth.

--- SER

 

[Bil Kleb]

What inquiring minds in *this* group want to know, is whether NASA is
hiring Ruby programmers.

I tried to get some contract work going a few months ago, but as the new
space vision started up, all funding was redirected and is only now in the
process of being redistributed.

I believe the exploration office is currently soliciting proposals from
external sources. I can't find the specific request, but it and other
opportunities should be described somewhere within:

http://www.nasa.gov/about/business/
http://www.nasa.gov/about/research/

Regards,

 

[Bil Kleb]

I believe the exploration office is currently soliciting proposals from
external sources. I can't find the specific request, but it and other
opportunities should be described somewhere within:

http://www.nasa.gov/about/business/
http://www.nasa.gov/about/research/

While reading the local announcements, I found it:

http://exploration.nasa.gov/