From: E S Date: 2005-01-10T02:06:28+09:00 Subject: Re: Python vs Ruby > L�hett�j�: Lethalman > Aihe: Python vs Ruby > > (sorry for my poor English) > Hello, > i'm a pythonist but i like very much some ruby features, however it > doesn't seem to be very supported at all like Python. > I never programmed in ruby, because i python is more used. > > I would like to know why ruby doesn't "take the fly" like Python did, > because i really would like to try the ruby language! The main reason is that people don't want to try it because of the 'lack of support' (which is not really true), which in turn means less users, which means less libraries written, which means that new users think the language isn't supported, which means there will be less new users... You get the picture. In truth, Ruby has some excellent libraries (particularly if one counts the multitude of Japanese ones that may not have great documentation) even for fairly esoteric purposes, plus writing new ones is just so much more pleasurable than in Python or Perl etc. The C API for writing and wrapping extensions is excellent and there is a library for directly loading and using dynamic libraries. The only way to break the above self-perpetuating circle of damnation is for enough people to shed away their fears and boldly go where no-one has gone before. Except the ones who already have and are not going back even if They attach eels to our elbows and start showing Fox News. > Bye! Toodles. E