On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:16:41 -0500, Kenneth Tilton <kentil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Xah Lee wrote: >> Just spent 3 hours looking into Ruby today. Here's my short impression >> for those interested. >> >> * Why Not Ruby? >> http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/why_not_Ruby.html >> >> plain text version follows: >> -------------------------------------- >> >> Why Not Ruby? >> >> Xah Lee, 2008-12-31 >> >> Spent about 3 hours looking into Ruby language today. >> >> The articles i read in detail are: >> >> * Wikipedia: Ruby (programming language)¨J. Gives general overview. >> >> * Brief tutorial: "Ruby in Twenty Minutes" >> http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/documentation/quickstart/ >> >> * Personal blog by Stevey Yegge, published in 2004-10. >> http://steve.yegge.googlepages.com/ruby-tour >> >> The Wikipedia gives the best intro and overview in proper context. The >> "Ruby in Twenty Minutes" is just 4 pages. It give you a very concrete >> intro to Ruby's syntax and semantics. Stevey Yegge's blog doesn't >> teach much and rambles, but provide a little personal view. I read it >> because his opinions i respect. >> >> Q: Will you learn Ruby? >> >> No. For practical application, the lang is some 100 times less useful >> than each of Perl, Python, PHP, Javascript. For academic study, >> functional langs like Mathematica, Haskell, OCaml, erlang, Qz, are far >> more interesting and powerful in almost all aspects. Further, there's >> also Perl6, NewLisp, Clojure, Scala... With respect to elegance or >> power, these modern lang of the past 5 years matches or exceed Ruby. >> >> Q: Do you think Ruby lang is elegant? >> >> Yes. In my opinion, better than Perl, Python, PHP. As a high level >> lang, it's far better than Java, C, C++ type of shit. However, i don't >> think it is any better than emacs lisp, Scheme lisp, javascript, >> Mathematica. Note that Ruby doesn't have a spec, and nor a formal >> spec. Javascript has. Ruby's syntax isn't that regular, nor is it >> based on a system. Mathemtica's is. Ruby's power is probably less than >> Scheme, and probably same as Javascript. >> >> I also didn't like the fact that ruby uses keyword "end" to indicate >> code block much as Pascal and Visual Basic, Logo, do. I don't like >> that. >> >> Q: Won't Ruby be a interesting learning experience? >> >> No. As far as semantics goes, Ruby is basically identical to Perl, >> Python, PHP. I am a expert in Perl and PHP, and have working knowledge >> of Python. I already regretted having spent significant amount of time >> (roughly over a year) on Python. In retrospect, i didn't consider the >> time invested in Python worthwhile. (as it turns out, i don't like >> Python and Guido cult, as the lang is going the ways of OOP mumbo- >> jumbo with its Python 3 "brand new" future.) There is absolutely >> nothing new in Ruby, as compared to Perl, Python, PHP, or Emacs lisp, >> Scheme lisp. >> >> Q: Do you recommend new programers to learn Ruby then? >> >> Not particularly. As i mentioned, if you are interested in practical >> utility, there's already Perl, PHP, Python, Javascript, which are all >> heavily used in the computing industry. If you are interested as a >> academic exercise, there's Scheme lisp, and much of functional langs >> such as OCaml, Haskell, Mathematica, which will teach you a whole lot >> more about computer science, features of language semantics, etc. >> >> Q: Do you condemn Ruby? >> >> No. I think it's reasonably elegant, but today there are too many >> languages, so Ruby don't particularly standout for me. Many of them, >> are arguably quite more elegant and powerful than Ruby. See: >> Proliferation of Computing Languages. >> > >Kenny Tilton, 2008-12-31 > >Q: Why not Xah's review of Ruby? > >>> Spent about 3 hours looking into Ruby language today. > >A. Three hours? I've had belches that lasted longer than that. Of >course, a true master can tell a lot in just a few hours of coding with >a new language... > >>> The articles i read in detail are: > >Q: Read?! > >A: That's what he said. > > >hth,kzo Be carefull what you say. If they pay me I would rip your and Xah's guts out in a second. sln -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
