From: Martin DeMello <martindemello@...>
Date: 2005-12-23T08:57:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Why not Python? (No, no, I am not a spy)

Tolga <tolgacavdar@gmail.com> wrote:
> One or two weeks ago, I tried Python and loved it. But I also hearing
> ineteresting things about Ruby nowadays. Which language should I use?
> Oh, yes, this question looks somewhat silly, this is a Ruby group and
> people will tend to give an automatic "Ruby" reply. But as far as I
> see, Ruby (and Python) has a intellectual community. So, I hope that I
> will get logical explanations rather than "holigan" cries.

Whenever I'm asked for a one-word answer to why I prefer Ruby to Python,
that one word is 'blocks'. If you've used lisp, you should appreciate
the power of full-fledged lexical closures, and ruby makes them
*really* convenient to use. Indeed, the standard library is built
to make heavy use of blocks, and the one free block per method
positively encourages their use. It's really hard to describe how nice a
feature this is until you've used it for yourself, but a couple of weeks
investigating ruby should show you what I mean.

martin