From: Ned Konz <ned@...>
Date: 2001-11-13T13:57:48+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:24984] Re: Linux Magazine article

On Monday 12 November 2001 03:06 pm, Dave Thomas wrote:
> Andy & I've been asked to write a feature article about Ruby for Linux
> Magazine (www.linux-mag.com).
>
> I want to make this an upbeat article, featuring Ruby's strengths, and
> not other language's weaknesses. So, a quick poll request: what
> features of Ruby do you think would most impress or excite someone who
> hasn't used the language yet?

Depends on where they're coming from. I'm a Smalltalker, but I've also dealt 
with more B&D - oriented languages like C++. Some high points (some of which 
are shared by Smalltalk, but...)

* clean threading model
* easy extension in C
* garbage collection
* exceptions
* dynamic language: redefine classes on the fly
* singleton classes: redefine behavior per-object if necessary
* reflection and hooks
* standard idiom for iterators
* clean syntax
* ease of writing text processing and system scripts

> What small applications would whet
> people's appetites?

* threaded servers with shared state (avoiding the ugliness of Perl's forking 
server models)
* simple extension for using a popular C library
* something that takes advantage of singleton classes -- user configurable 
objects?

-- 
Ned Konz
currently: Stanwood, WA
email:     ned@bike-nomad.com
homepage:  http://bike-nomad.com