From: ahoward <ahoward@...>
Date: 2003-06-13T01:22:48+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby disadvantages over Mind

On Thu, 12 Jun 2003, Anubis wrote:

> OO Programming is not the Panacee and I don't like Ruby because my mind is
> much less stimulated programming with it.  I mean if you have to "turn right
> and become red" then Ruby has already a method doing that.  And you can use
> it like this : Object.turn_right_become_red I prefer doing that by
> programming instead of writing something which someone has already
> programmed for me. Because people saying that since they program with Ruby
> they don't want to program with another language are true : they are not
> adapted anymore with popular but harder programming language.  I mean you
> have to train your brain and not to become lazy with it. That's why after
> programming a little bit with Ruby and with Perl I choose Perl.  Perl brings
> fun to programming also because you have to think. If "fun" means to you
> playing video games instead of chess then Ruby is for you and you will find
> a lot of obvious advantages of Ruby over Perl...
>
> Anubis


i understand what you are saying.  i also enjoy programming in perl for those
same reasons.  but, to make an analogy, perl is like a swiss army knife and
fine for doing little wood carvings - you can become very involved in some
intracate little detail and that i find very enjoyable.  however, ruby is like
a pickup truck full of powertools (i used to be a contractor btw.) and, if you
are building a house, infinitely more powerful.  i suppose this analogy is
true of any procedural vs. oo language.  oo programming is absolutely *not*
the panacee people claim is it - i don't see complex inheritence heirarchies
as elegant design, i see them as tightly coupled balls of string: all of
meyer's books are, IMHO, incredible arguements against oo programming in
general and c++ in particular.  ruby, however, hits the nail right on the
head: it's oo model is like a power drill or skill saw - ultra utilitarian:
faster, and easier.  because i do also enjoy those 'chess' aspects of
programming i look forward to any chance to write a c extension for ruby.  in
fact, i don't even really write c++ anymore, i write c and then wrap it in
c++, much as a ruby extension works.  so, by designing overall systems in
ruby, but addressing some of the finer details in c, i get the best of both
worlds from both the programming enjoyment, and quality of product,
perspectives.

my 2 cents.


-a
--
  ====================================
  | Ara Howard
  | NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory
  | Information and Technology Services
  | Data Systems Group
  | R/FST 325 Broadway
  | Boulder, CO 80305-3328
  | Email: ara.t.howard@noaa.gov
  | Phone:  303-497-7238
  | Fax:    303-497-7259
  | ~ > ruby -e 'p(%.\x2d\x29..intern)'
  ====================================