From: Jeff Wood <jeff.darklight@...>
Date: 2005-12-23T20:58:01+09:00
Subject: Re: Why not Python? (No, no, I am not a spy)

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Actually, no.

The 'self' in ruby is a keyword, hardcoded and built into the language. (
Other languages use the same, java comes to mind ).

The 'self' in python is a self-inflicted community standard. They could hav=
e
saved countless keystrokes around the world and just used 's', 'me', or 'my=
'
... but nope ...

j.

On 12/22/05, J. Ryan Sobol <ryansobol@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Dec 22, 2005, at 9:07 PM, baalbek wrote:
>
> > Steve Litt wrote:
> >> On Wednesday 21 December 2005 01:22 pm, Steffen Mutter wrote:
> >>> Am Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:54:12 -0800 schrieb Tolga:
> >>>
> >>>> One or two weeks ago, I tried Python and loved it.
> >>>
> >>> What exactly did make you feel happy?
> >> What makes me happy about Python is subordination by indentation.
> >> Remember my thread on end matching, and how complex the answers
> >> became (one responder suggested getting a Ruby parser to do the
> >> job). That all becomes moot via subordination by indentation.
> >> If I screw up the indentation, I get either a syntax error or
> >> *very obvious* runtime error.
> >> SteveT
> >> Steve Litt
> >> http://www.troubleshooters.com
> >> slitt@troubleshooters.com
> >
> > Sorry, but the indentation feature of Python (along with the
> > mandatory prefix self of every class method) is one of the worst
> > design decisions made by a language designer, and is what turned me
> > away from Python to Ruby.
> >
> > That said, if there weren't a Ruby, I would still be a Pythonista!
> >
> > Baalbek
> >
>
> Excuse my newbi-ness, but isn't that "self rule" for class methods
> similar in Ruby?  E.g.
>
> class A
>         def self.a_class_method
>                 puts "A class method"
>         end
> # OR
>         def A.another_class_method
>                 puts "Another class method"
>         end
> end
>
> ~ ryan ~
>
>


--
"Remember. Understand. Believe. Yield! -> http://ruby-lang.org"

Jeff Wood

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