From: ptkwt@... (Phil Tomson)
Date: 2004-05-04T03:25:19+09:00
Subject: Re: What do you use Ruby for?

In article <59364f29.0405030917.6abf9e6b@posting.google.com>,
Glenn <glenn_m_smith@hotmail.com> wrote:
>OK, the more I read about Ruby (currently on page 29 of the FAQ,
>having read Matz' (translated) user-guide, the more I like it.  The
>funny thing is that Smalltalk is one of those languages I've always
>wanted to learn, but never quite got to grips with.  

Same here.  It's on my TODO list.

>Ruby seems to
>have a lot Smalltalk, but packaged up in nice wrapping paper.

Or at least more familiar wrapping paper.

>
>The downside for me is that generally I can't see myself using Ruby
>day-to-day at work, because it's not ALL that common for me to require
>a scripting language.  That said, if I could push myself to find
>reasons, I'd really like to use it more and more.  And I'll certainly
>be trying!!
>
>I guess it's primary use would be for dynamic web pages, just like
>Perl etc.  but as I don't get involved in that kind of thing, that's
>no good to me.
>
>So what do YOU use Ruby for?  What kinds of development are you using
>it for (I'm not asking for trade secrets or anything!).

First off, have a look at this page on the Rubygarden wiki:
http://www.rubygarden.org/ruby?RealWorldRuby


I'm currently using Ruby at work to develop a GUI app using Ruby/FLTK.  
It will be distributed to customers.  Can't say much 
else, except that I'm about 4x more productive in Ruby than I am in C++ 
(this helped sell management on using Ruby) and for this particular 
application execution speed isn't an issue, but development speed is.

I'm also working on my Masters degree and I use Ruby for a lot of class 
projects.  Currently I'm working on a Quantum Design Language(QDL) for 
representing and simulating Quantum circuits (This is for a class on 
Quantum Computing).  Ruby's code blocks make this easy.  I'll be 
announcing  my first release of QDL in class today. (I suppose I could 
also release it on the RAA, but this a a very specific Domain Specific 
Language and I doubt anyone else would be interested).

It might be best to turn the question around and ask what kind of 
programming do you do?  I'm sure we can suggest somewhere you can use Ruby 
in your day-to-day work.

Welcome to the Ruby community.

Phil