[ruby-talk:03333] Re: Selling Rubies by the Carat

Hi,

As I mentioned in [ruby-talk:01467](see below), I would call it 
charming.  Imagine in that description the person being a programmer 
finding something pleasing in performance.

Also, Ruby has a noble association.
Python is either a snake, or an irreverent comedy show.
Perl is based on a grain of sand, formed over time in a clam. Nicer.
But Ruby is both gem and harmonious warbler (ruby-crowned kinglet).
It reigns charmingly over the rest, and is pleasing to all who
come across it.

As matz once said [02790], 
>>
The purpose of Ruby is to maximize programming pleasure.
Programming in Ruby is extremely fun, for me at least.
<<

Perhaps musical, lively, and noble can be used...
Ruby is a noble programming language. Fit for a king. Ruby rules.
Perl is nice for the gates to get there, and no comment about python.


Guy N. Hurst


[ruby-talk:01467]  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

I just came across GOTO's invitation page, and took up the search for
an animal mascot for Ruby.

I came across the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which someone described so:
>>
On the 27th of June, 1833, while some of my party and myself were
rambling 
over the deserts of Labrador, the notes of a warbler came on my ear, and
I
listened with delight to the harmonious sounds that filled the air
around, 
and which I judged to belong to a species not yet known to me. 
The next instant I observed a small bird perched on the top of a fir
tree, 
and on approaching it, recognised it as the vocalist that had so
suddenly 
charmed my ear and raised my expectations.
<<
(http://employeeweb.myxa.com/rrb/Audubon/VolII/00225.html)

How appropriate! For this is what it was like for me to discover this
language.


Likewise, the following remark elsewhere:
>>
 The outstanding characteristic of this little male monarch is its song. 
There are other birds whose songs are just as sweet and varied,
but considering the size of the performer, none can match it for volume. 
<<
(http://www.ednet.ns.ca/educ/museum/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0281.htm)

Some detailed photos on this page:
(http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/rckinglet.htm)

Comments? I hope it isn't too late for this...


Guy N. Hurst

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



Dave Thomas wrote:
> 
> Folks:
> 
> Andy and I have a question:
> 
>  ______________________________________________________________
> |                                                              |
> |              Why should people learn Ruby?                   |
> |                                                              |
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> We know why _we_ like it, but we're interested why others do. This is
> motivated by the fact we need to produce compelling preface and/or
> back-cover copy that will draw people who've never heard of Ruby in to
> the book, and hence in to the community.
> 
> I could go on here listing our reasons, but I won't because I don't
> want to taint your answers. But, if you have any great insights, we'd
> love to here them.
> 
> On a related note, we're also looking for a word to describe the Ruby
> programming paradigm. Some people call Ruby a scripting language, and
> sell it by saying it's better than Perl, or more OO than Python. We
> don't feel that's doing the language justice,a nd in fact we go out of
> our way to avoid the word 'scripting'. To us, Ruby is a great general
> purpose language that's flexible enough to also let you do things that
> you can do with conventional scripting languages. So what can we call
> it? What one word completes the sentence "Ruby is a ________
> [programming] language"? This doesn't have to be an existing term:
> just a hook on which to hand a description.
> 
> Thanks in advance for your imaginative answers!
> 
> Dave