From: Dave Thomas <Dave@...>
Date: 2001-10-26T13:21:29+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:23396] Ruby and Python: a fuzzy question


I want to start out with a statement: this is not a message about
which language is better. Instead, I'm trying to clarify some vague
thought I have by seeing if anyone else can explain it :)

For me personally, Ruby and Python have different characters. It isn't
that one is better that the other in any absolute sense: they just
feel different when I use them. From talking with folks, this seems to
be a common experience.

So, here's my question. As Paul Prescod has said, Ruby and Python are
fairly similar in many significant ways. Despite this, I personally
have never managed to get excited about Python, but liked Ruby so much
I wrote a book about it. Other folks have the opposite experience,
loving Python and not finding much to thrill them about Ruby. Why is
that? Is it some kind of personality clash between the language and
the programmer? Is it liking what you're used to? Is it liking or
disliking the philosophies of the languages' designers? Or is it
something else?

I have some very vague idea of what it might be (at least as far as
I'm concerned), but I'd like to see what people think before posting
it.


Cheers


Dave