From: Mark Haliday Date: 2007-01-19T01:07:50+09:00 Subject: Re: Ruby and Python, questions (not a flamewar!) Drew Olson wrote: > So, I am kind of confused as to why Python is so mainstream and ruby > still seems so fringe. Apps like YouTube are written in Python and > powerful organizations like NASA, Google, etc. are using Python as well. Python has a large library. Ruby's library is good and growing but it simply doesn't compare to Python's at this point. At times I want to do something in Ruby and I end up having to do it in Python simply because the library pieces I'm looking for exist in Python and not in Ruby. So I learned both. > > 1) I've read that Python is faster than ruby. How is this possible if Python for the most part is faster. It's had more time to mature than Ruby and the way the code is interpreted if I recall correctly is different and Python currently has the edge there. Currently, Python goes to bytecode and Ruby doesn't I believe. YARV should get Ruby on par with Python or perhaps surpass it in speed - time will tell. > 2) Why are many mainstream organizations using Python rather than ruby? > Is it simply an age issue (Python has been around longer)? Is it a > performance issue? Is this changing currently? Python was better known in the mid to late 90's, especially in North America. > 3) Python seems to be quite prevalent within Linux distros as config > scripts...how did they gain this foothold? Why not ruby for standard > Linux config scripts? Again, Python was here first, had good docs and a strong library. It got a foothold first. Had DHH written Rails for Python I think we'd see Python now the defacto king of scripting languages. That didn't happen obviously. Rails is Ruby's killer framework and I think has done more to promote Ruby than any other thing. Both Python and Ruby are great languages and both are going to keep moving forward. The only one I see in troubled waters is Perl. I think they've kinda hurt themselves by betting the farm so to speak on Perl 6 which has yet to materialize in a fully working form. Many people gave up waiting and moved to Ruby or Python instead. -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.