From: James Edward Gray II <james@...>
Date: 2004-09-16T01:17:58+09:00
Subject: Re: Ex-Perl coders: Howz it feel to convert to Ruby?

On Sep 15, 2004, at 9:54 AM, Chris wrote:

> So the question for any hardcore Perl coders out there that have 
> converted to Perl (or are fluent in both) is: Is it really worth the 
> time?  Are the paybacks there?  And do you feel you've exceeded your 
> capabilities in Perl using Ruby?

You almost sound like you're looking for the "Silver Bullet" of 
programming languages.  I'll tell you  upfront that I don't think there 
is one, so you can let that color the rest of what I say...

I would rate myself as a Perl Expert and an Intermediate Ruby 
programmer.  I've recently "converted" to Ruby in that I'm now using it 
for more and more day-to-day tasks.

Everything else that follows is solely my opinion.

I feel Perl has a slight edge in quick and dirty scripting.  Simple 
things like having to call to_s() on the integers I print or 
remembering when to use times() instead of upto() slow me down or trip 
me up just a bit.  Of course, this is probably my familiarity as much 
as anything else.  Please don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining 
about the Ruby way of doing things, but I do think I throw down a quick 
throw-away or one-use script a touch faster in Perl.

On the flip side, Ruby is by far the cleanest most readable language 
I've ever worked with.  That gives a huge advantage in bigger and long 
term projects, I think.  I can just read my code, without having to 
figure it out all over again.  Because of that, I can make changes 
easier and maintain software faster.

Related to that, Perl's object system is downright laughable next to 
Ruby.  Heck Java doesn't stand up that much better.  If you're a OO 
guy, there's a lot to like in Ruby and I am.

I spend more of my time writing big programs than small scripts, so it 
should be clear why I've begun to prefer Ruby.

The other big difference I've noticed is maturity.  Perl and especially 
the CPAN are quite mature, simply as a function of time.  Ruby is still 
"young" in places.  I view this as a plus and a minus.

When I need a module XYZ, it's not always immediately available, easy 
to find, easy to install, or completely finished.  The CPAN can often 
claim all of those things at once, which is a stunning feat.

Again though, I also view this as a plus.  I sometimes feel like 90% of 
the problems have already been solved in Perl and there's not a lot of 
room let for my mark.  I don't feel that way about Ruby.  If a module 
is missing, I could be the one to write it.  This is more a feeling 
than anything else, but it's kind of fun to be on the adventurous side 
of a young language, to me at least.

You seem concerned with downtime though, so this may not hold true with 
you.

Those are just some of my general impressions.  Hopefully, they give 
you something of what you're looking for.

In the end I suppose you need to ask yourself why you would switch from 
Perl to Ruby, and then see if you think Ruby fits that reasoning.  Good 
luck with your choice.

James Edward Gray II