From: Jamal Mazrui Date: 2006-07-15T06:06:30+09:00 Subject: Re: How to speed up ruby and make it as fast as possible I think you've hit the nail on the head: execution speed is apparently a sore spot in the Ruby community, one that results in undue defensiveness and shooting the messenger! From my reading, Perl and Python are the primary competitors to Ruby among programming languages at this time. I prefer the elegance of Ruby, and want it to be chosen over the others when potential users are making such a decision. Whereas Python cannot change its indentation requirement (and remain Python) and Perl (version 5) cannot change its messiness, I believe Ruby is capable of reaching a comparable level of execution speed. Solving a problem is usually better accomplished by acknowledging it openly rather than causing people to feel like they have committed heresy or stupidity by raising it. Regards, Jamal --Original Message-- From: gregarican [mailto:greg.kujawa@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 4:00 PM To: ruby-talk ML Subject: Re: How to speed up ruby and make it as fast as possible There are certain sore spots in language discussions which tend to get feathers ruffled. Seeing this thread has garnered so many replies in such short time uncovers a sore spot in Ruby language discussion. Ruby tends to be slower than other similar interpreted scripting languages. Although some folks won't admit it as a broad generalization this assertion tends to be stereotypically correct. Every language has its sore spot. For Python try bringing up significant whitepace or passing the understood 'self' around each and every method. For Java try bringing up the truth of 'write once run everyone' or mixing primitives in with objects for a supposedly OO language. For Perl try bringing up cryptic lack of readibility and "bolted on" version updates. For PHP try bringing up secure coding practices. And so on...