From: "RadosÅ‚aw BuÅ‚at" Date: 2009-02-04T02:47:38+09:00 Subject: Re: 1.9.1? On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 6:14 PM, yuckysocks wrote: > Hi there, > > I'm about 2 weeks into my learning attempt at Ruby (1.8.6 is what I've > cut my teeth on). > > Can someone give me a rational assessment of the differences between > the two language versions, and which one I should continue to pursue? > > I'm mainly using Ruby with Rails to make basic webapps for my own > edification. > > Thanks! > > Alex > > Very short answer: - new virtual machine (previously just AST interpreter) - memory diet for some objects (Object, Array, String etc) - improved speed (see http://antoniocangiano.com/2008/12/09/the-great-ruby-shootout-december-2008/) - added character encoding support (previously works only with raw bytes) - new syntax for hashes with symbols as keys, hashes preserve keys order - many changes to API (improved, added consistency, removed deprecated code etc) - changes in language semantics (for example block arguments now works (almost?) the same as method arguments) - new lambda literal: -> - external iterators (class Enumerator) now are built in - new concept such a fiber (class Fiber) - native threads (but with GIL like python) - rubygems, rake are built in - minitest supercedes old test/unit -- Pozdrawiam Rados³aw Bu³at http://radarek.jogger.pl - mój blog