From: "Michael P. Soulier" <msoulier@...>
Date: 2007-01-19T03:45:05+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby and Python, questions (not a flamewar!)

On 1/18/07, Drew Olson <olsonas@gmail.com> 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

In my opinion, it's quite simple. Documentation.

With Python, the documentation is excellent, and it is very simple to
find docs for older versions of Python which you are likely using, as
projects stay on a given version for large amounts of time.

By constrast, the available Ruby documentation provided for free by
the project is pitiful. It is difficult to start without good docs,
when the alternatives have such excellent documentation.

I work on Ruby and Python projects, and I'm always wincing when I work
on Ruby after just working on Python. I do not like the Python
language as much, but the docs make my job easier than the digging and
digging that I need to do with Ruby.

Yes, that even includes buying the Pickaxe book, which should be an
optional step to using the language, btw, not a required one.

Love the language. It really needs a better library reference and
manual than what is currently available, and it needs to be available
for all previous versions of the language that someone might be using.

Sorry to rant, but it's a sore-point for me, because I do love the
language. Unfortunately I don't have copious free time to help fix the
problem. I can use the language or I can document it, but I can't do
both.

Mike
-- 
Michael P. Soulier <msoulier@digitaltorque.ca>
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a
touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
--Albert Einstein