From: "ara.t.howard" <ara.t.howard@...>
Date: 2007-07-11T13:07:55+09:00
Subject: Re: Beautiful Code : Pity he didn't ask here...


On Jul 10, 2007, at 8:43 PM, Chad Perrin wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 10:53:42AM +0900, ara.t.howard wrote:
>>
>> On Jul 10, 2007, at 8:47 AM, Tim Bray wrote:
>>
>>> Gosh, I think I totally disagree on readability grounds.
>>
>> let's step back for one moment and think about why we all left perl:
>
> Speak for yourself.  I didn't leave Perl at all.  I just added Ruby  
> to my
> repertoire.  I'm not sold on the idea that there's One True  
> Language, and
> its name is Ruby.  I use different languages for different purposes.
> Some languages are generally good, and some are generally bad, but  
> many
> languages are good for at least one thing in a way that other  
> languages
> aren't -- and for that reason among others, I use both Perl and Ruby.
>
>
>>
>>   - wtf is $1 ?
>>   - wtf is ARGF ?
>>   - regexes are, of all things, the epitome of snoopy swearing
>
> $1 is the first capture.  Seems obvious to me.
> ARGF is closely related to ARGV.
> Regexen are extremely useful, and removing them from Ruby would be  
> a bit
> like shooting it in the head.
>
>
>>
>> i always consider using the magic $vars a sign of temporary perl
>> madness.
>
> I always see it as a potential sign of greater maintainability (if
> they're used well).
>
> -- 
> CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
> John W. Russell: "People point. Sometimes that's just easier. They  
> also use
> words. Sometimes that's just easier. For the same reasons that  
> pointing has
> not made words obsolete, there will always be command lines."
>


hey chad-

i've been writing oo-perl for many moons, setting $/ to slurp files  
and all that...  nevertheless the are features of ruby that attracted  
to me it from the context of perl and continue to stand out when  
selecting one of the two languages for a particular purpose.  the  
power of ruby is that of abstraction and cleanliness.

ps.  truth be told i really only maintain perl now and haven't  
written anything new in it for years. ;-)

-a
--
we can deny everything, except that we have the possibility of being  
better. simply reflect on that.
h.h. the 14th dalai lama