[ruby-talk:11252] Re: C scripting using Ruby (instead of Perl)?

In article <[e-mail]>,
Ben Tilly <[e-mail]> wrote:
>ts <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>
>> >>>>> "B" == Ben Tilly <[e-mail]> writes:
>>
>> >> actually *it very easy* to extend Ruby with C
>>
>>B> Our definitions of "very" differ.
>[...]
>>B> Literally just drop the C code directly into the
>>B> script, and leave deciding when to recompile and how
>>B> to link up to Inline.
>>
>>   ruby extconf.rb
>>   make
>>   make install
>>
>>  If you can't do this, perhaps there is a problem
>
>I found that to be an unfair slam.
>
>Did I ever indicate that it was not easy to extend
>Ruby with C?  Not that I saw.  However I pointed out
>that it could be even *easier*, hence I have a
>different definition of "very easy" than you do.

Quite true - it's easier to extend Ruby with C than it is to extend Perl 
with C ("out of the box").  But considering Perl's Inline module, I'd have 
to say it's at least as easy, if not easier, to extend Perl with C now.  
I'm doing a Language comparison matrix for an upcoming presentation and 
intitially I was going to give Ruby a '4' (highest rating) and Perl a '2' 
(1 is the lowest rating), but in light of Perl's Inline module, I'd have 
to give Perl a 4 and Ruby a 3 - Inline actually seems to make extending 
Perl with C a bit easier than extending Ruby with C.  Now, I haven't used 
Inline in Perl (I read the article in The Perl Journal) and I have 
extended Ruby with C - so it' possible that Inline isn't that easy when 
you get down to actually using it.  Of course, we're talking mechanics 
here - the other issue would be Perl's C API vs Ruby's C API.  I find 
Ruby's to be very straightforward and easy to use, but I have to admit I 
haven't done much with Perl in this department.

>
>Now is it worth the extra work of getting Inline set
>up just to make it easier to get C working with Ruby?
>Almost certainly not.  But is it worth that work for
>the potential of then being able to link in other
>languages?  (Which is where Inline.pm is going in
>Perl.)

I actually think that at the moment, it would be more valuable to have an 
Inline for Ruby that allows you to inline Perl code.

Phil