From: Joe Van Dyk <joevandyk@...>
Date: 2005-08-19T06:07:38+09:00
Subject: Python vs Ruby!

Which is better, Python or Ruby?

(ha, just kidding)

I've been fighting the good fight inside a really large corporation
trying to get Ruby on the "approved" list.  I've brought this up a
couple times in the past on this list and have got some good
responses.

Perl used to be the language of choice for certain application
domains.  Then, a few years ago, Python was seen to be better than
Perl, so Python was added to the "approved" list.

As there's an interest in reducing variability in software systems in
the company, any addition to the approved list has to have some pretty
good reasons as to why the addition is needed.

I have a couple main reasons why I prefer Ruby over Python:
1)  Simple to extend existing applications written in C with Ruby.
2)  Great syntax
3)  Blocks
4)  DRb
5)  Rails

I don't think that's enough though, as #2 is pretty subjective and
there's probably an equivalent to DRb in Python and Rails is probably
way too bleeding edge (and I don't do web development stuff here).  #1
is probably the most compelling reason.

I obviously don't want to push for Ruby as a replacement for Python,
that would never work.  I'm pushing for Ruby to be available for use
in addition to Python.  So, I think the question is: "Why would you
want to use Ruby in a situation where Python is available?"

Thanks,
Joe