From: Chris White <cwprogram@...>
Date: 2011-09-15T10:05:43+09:00
Subject: Re: Can I Safely Use Rubinius While Learning?


> I am still at the beginning of my learning path, but I have heard a lot
> about Rubinius and I am interested in using it. I am wondering if I
> should wait until I have finished learning Ruby using MRI or if I can
> safely use Rubinus without fear of running into incompatibilities that
> will confuse the matter. I am using several sources including Beginning
> Ruby From Novice To Professional and Eloquent Ruby. I believe both of
> them are assuming 1.9 (although they mention differences in 1.8.

I'm going to make a bit of a bold proposition. That is I'm going to recommend using Rubinius for learning Ruby. Your point about worrying about incompatibilities is indeed a valid one, however it is my belief that if you really want to learn the language, you need to thrive in an environment where you have to prove everything and can't assume anything. If you run through everything smoothly, then are you really learning? You should step outside of comfortable boundaries and experiment a little. In fact here's a 2.0 developer preview release that supports 1.9:

http://rubini.us/2011/06/07/inside-rubinius-20-preview/

It also has the nice benefit of being able to help out a project. Think something is not working how it's supposed to? Write tests. Prove it. If it is a bug, you have a workable test case to submit with your bug report and get that great feeling that you contributed to something.

That's just my 2 cents though.

Regards,
Chris White