From: gtewalt@... (gt)
Date: 2003-08-20T23:29:00+09:00
Subject: Re: Why did you switch from Python to Ruby?

Sean O'Dell <sean@cSePlsoAfMt.com[REMOVE_THE_SPAM]> wrote in message news:<Ews0b.2919$pl5.1575@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com>...
> I may not be the best qualified to answer this, because I looked at 
> Python, scowled, and ran before I got to do any serious programming, but 
> I have an interesting question you can ask yourself:
> 
> How many posts can you find on Google/Groups (Usenet) from people 
> stating they used to program in Ruby and switched to something else?
> 
> I would wager you will find zero.  This isn't just pro-Ruby FUD, either, 
> I have a point to make.  Everyone has a reason for plugging their 
> favorite language, and you will find arguments for every programming 
> language on the face of the earth, even the worst of the worst.  So, 
> perhaps instead of basing your decision on the presentation of what 
> people have to say (who may not have the charisma to convince you and 
> you will run off with the wrong language), try looking around and 
> finding who left what languages for what reasons and weigh that information.
> 
> My point here is, I have yet to hear of a single person who left Ruby 
> for another scripting language.
> 
> I'm sure people have left Ruby for certain pragmatic reasons ("my job 
> requires me to write in Perl" or "Ruby just isn't as fast as assembly"), 
> but I have trouble imagining even one person leaving Ruby because it 
> wasn't a good enough script language for them.  You can find people who 
> never tried it, or tried it for a day and missed their old language 
> Perl/Python/Bash/Basic so much they had to go back, but I doubt you can 
> find any Ruby-expatriates among the group of people who have given it a 
> solid try.
> 
> Go Google for people who left Ruby and count them and enumerate their 
> reasons, if any.  Ponder that for awhile.
> 
> 	Sean O'Dell
> 
> Brandon J. Van Every wrote:

Ironically, Google makes use of Python.

Which reminds me that I would like to see a discussion
on the reasons for not using ruby more for cgi and web page
generation. I've seen a couple of "ruby" sites that
use php. Perhaps only due to web-hosting services refusing
to implement it.
But thats a story for a different thread.

> 
> > This question is only meant to apply to people who used to use Python, but