From: Sean Russell <ser@...>
Date: 2001-06-29T23:44:04+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:17065] Re: RCR for the String class

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Thursday 28 June 2001 21:46, you wrote:
> This "chaining" is one of the things I HATE about Java. Learning io in Java
> is a nightmare! Learning it in Ruby is fairly trivial.
>
> Actually, learning anything in Ruby seems easier -- simpler and much more
> intuitive -- than in Java.
>
> Just an opinion from a non-academic.

Well, when I first started learning Java, there were only 5 packages and 
probably some 100 classes or so.  Now there are, what, 1000 classes in the 
core?  That can be intimidating, but it is also very powerful:

Given ANY OutputStream (String, file, socket...)  I can write:

   output = new BufferedWriter(
      new CryptedWriter(
      new OutputStreamWriter(
      new GZIPOutputStream(
      new Base64OutputStream( stream ) ) ) ) );

This gives me a buffered, encrypted, GZIPped, base-64 encoded output stream.  
(the GZIPping is probably excessive, once the stream is encrypted, but you 
get the idea).  This may be confusing to learn at the beginning, but it is 
very powerful, useful, and elegant when you do understand it.  The difficulty 
is only in coming to grips with which classes you have access to.      

If all Ruby was meant for was small scripts, the current tool set would be 
sufficient.  I want to be able to use Ruby for large applications, and this 
means having access to a large toolkit.  Further, I want the implementation 
details hidden, making Ruby more portable and OO.  Still, all in all, Ruby is 
much better than Java.

- --- SER   Deutsch|Esperanto|Francais|Linux|Java|Dirigibles|GPG|Pegwit
"Did you ever notice that while MS stands for Microsoft, it also stands
for the dread disease Multiple Sclerosis? Well, why not? They're both
slow, crippling and ultimately deadly."   -- Monika McDole
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iD8DBQE7PJQvP0KxygnleI8RAvKDAJ43lxWFzdXtjdCk/2qEQHw0SP0ZzgCeJczU
O7dCQf197Z8pWldoyn6s/A8=
=wGS0
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----