From: Warren Seltzer <warrens@...>
Date: 2005-09-22T05:30:18+09:00
Subject: Large Ruby Apps ?

I am coming to Ruby having used the usual list of scripting and C*  languages.  Since Ruby
has such powerful programming features, I think it may be used for some really large
system.  My decades long observation of software is that small programs that succeed
become large programs.

But I am concerned about Ruby's suitability for programming in the large.  First off, the
lack of the requirement to declare variables sounds like an invitation to programming
bugs.  It's just too easy to assign something to a misspelling of a variable name.  Make
the same spelling mistake again and you won't even get a warning about an undefined
variable.

For example this 1-line program issues no error:

puts @whatever

This is a code bug that a statically typed compiler would scream about.

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Also: Is anybody doing a port to 64-bit systems?

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Also, a history question.  With Ruby coming out of Japan, why wasn't Unicode support done
earlier?  You'd think it would be insulated mono-lingual Americans who would delay that...


Warren Seltzer