From: gtewalt@... (gt) Date: 2003-08-21T00:49:07+09:00 Subject: Re: Why would you abandon Ruby? (was) "Brandon J. Van Every" wrote in message news:... > Mark Wilson wrote: > > On Wednesday, August 20, 2003, at 02:07 AM, Brandon J. Van Every > > wrote: > >> > >> Actually, it would prove something. It would prove that Perl has > >> industrial > >> incumbency. Then the question would be, is Ruby denting that > >> incumbency? Why or why not? > > > > The Master said: "The noble-minded worry about their lack of ability, > > not about people's failure to recognize their ability." > > > > Confucius, The Analects, XV, 19 > > Then IIUYC, you think using Ruby is about "nobility." Personally, I'm not > shopping for a noble language, I'm shopping for a useful one. In my world > view, and that of a lot of other people, deployment is part of utility. > At some point, there has to be those willing to push for acceptance of a new language with the suits. Being that Ruby is not a corporate offering, it will never have the advertising push, and hype that has helped some languages entrench themselves in the corporate world. **ahem**Java**ahem**. Does the fact that millions of people everyday are eating Big_Macs make them the best food? Also, since there are 'scripting' languages such as Lua and Python, the vote gets split so to speak, and the encumbents win. The main 'problem' with Ruby that I can see is that from the outside, it doesnt appear to offer anything unique. Generally, only when you use it do you start to see the light. Since Ruby doesnt really offer a 'niche' feature, like php, it gets lost in the wash due to the fact that the establishment isnt interested in blazing any trails. > >> What is Ruby's future? > > > > Standing beside a river, the Master said: "Everythin passes away like > > this, day and night, never resting." > > > > Confucius, The Analects, IX, 17 > > IIUYC, you use Ruby as a temporary expedient? You aren't interested in > whether it lasts 1 year or 5 years or 20 years, you'll just do something > else when it's time to move on? And by corollary, you don't care if > investments in worker training or IP are not leveraged over a sufficient > number of years? You figure, eh, write it over, write something else? 1) Very few languages have actually died out all together. 2) worker training is always in renewal. If you are a part of the computer industry in any form you should already be painfully aware of this. If you are looking to find the perfect programming language, you will never find it. If you are looking for the one language to learn so that you never have to learn another, or never have update your knowledge, you will never find it. Much the same as you will never find one tool that is up to every task you might have in mind. What is it that you really want? Do you want your bed made for you? And before you grouse any more about percieved unfriendly responses from this ng, I would urge you to start a thread like this in comp.lang.c.