From: Daniel Carrera <dcarrera@...>
Date: 2003-11-30T03:48:23+09:00
Subject: Ruby vs Python (IMHO)

Hi all,

I guess I just want to share a tiny "case study" from a project that I'm 
doing in Python and which I wish I could do in Ruby instead.

I am writing a BibTeX filter for the OpenOffice project (BibTeX is the 
bibliographic cousin of LaTeX).  I am doing it in Python because, of the 
languages with stable bridges to the OOo component model (UNO) Python is 
the one I like best.

My requirements are mostly related to regular expressions and string 
methods.  This is an area where Ruby really shines and is light-years 
ahead of the competition.

Regular expressions in Ruby are infinitely eaiser and more sensible to 
use than in Python.

Ruby:
   str =~ /^(#{char})\s*{\s*(#{char}+),(.*)}/


Python:
   regex = re.compile(r"^(" + char + "+)\s*{\s*(" + char + "+),(.*)}")
   regex.match(str)


Like this, there are many exaples.  Quite simply, strings are much easier 
to manipulate in Ruby.  Regexes are superior, there is varible
substitution, and the string methods are much better.

To make a long story short.  If I could do this in Ruby the parser would 
be easier to write, more understandable, and I would be more confident of 
its correctness.

Cheers,
-- 
Daniel Carrera | Top 100 things you don't want the sysadmin to say...
PhD student.   | 
Math Dept. UMD | 19. hey, what does mkfs do?