From: Alexander Kellett Date: 2005-02-15T00:41:45+09:00 Subject: Re: Printing why's (poignant) guide to ruby reading this again. still shocked... On Feb 14, 2005, at 12:19 AM, Navindra Umanee wrote: > How is a total beginner going to learn Ruby? By reading Pickaxe? I'm > not talking about a CS student here. My dad lives half-way around the > world from me. already answered this one. > Besides, Python is a more restricted and syntactically uniform > language. Ruby is more flexible and expressive, but IMHO to really > understand the code you have to know more CS concepts and have a > deeper understanding of the syntax than some people like to admit. python is confusing as hell. you try to explain why they have to get the indent levels right on every line. people can't even deal with the correctness of html (as is obvious given the shit on the web) never mind python. > Even though in Ruby you can abuse the syntax or treat it glibly -- > which makes it look like a nice thing for experienced programmers -- I > think it is better to understand what you are doing first. Python > forces you to understand these issues. ummm... without some backup i'd have to say you're trolling. > I prefer Ruby but I think Python will be easier for a beginner to > grasp at the beginning, and it has less hurdles as well > documentation/book-wise -- I even saw one of the beginner books > describe how to implement a neat graphical game in a few steps. chris pines tutorial answers this problem already. anyways. this is about materials. i doubt that you're really expecting to shove the python stdlib documentation in front of your father and get a regexp engine out of him in the coming days... > And yeah, VB has wizards and stuff on top of plenty of documentation. > Like I said, quicker gratification can be a good thing. Someone used > to fancy windows and GUI stuff probably isn't going to be happy stuck > at the command-line level. Joao makes a good point, of course. okay. i don't even want to start on this point because it means one inevitable thing. sorry but this is just getting stupid. "fancy windows and gui stuff" are you talking about vb? the confusing as crap to advanced and beginner users piece of cruft that m$ managed to build over the last 10 years with seemingly no real advancements whatsoever? non resizable interfaces, awful damn confusing language syntax, slow as hell on old machines. gimme my a nicely syntax highlighted irb with gui builder integration anyday over this crap!