From: Martin Elzen <martinelzen@...>
Date: 2004-05-10T23:26:07+09:00
Subject: Re: in search of a compelling reason to use ruby....

Well, I'm also a beginner at Ruby, so I can't say too much about it.  But 
while I was evaluating which language I should prefer to learn, given the 
choice between Python and Ruby, there was one major thing that really put me 
off of Python.  And that was that Python does not protect a class instance's 
datamembers from getting clobbered.  I gather that Python *conventions* 
apparently include "Thou shalt not clobber a class instance's datamembers.". 
   But in my experience conventions are a poor substitute for guarantees 
that a language tries to enforce.   I have a C++ background and I feel that 
protecting a class instance's datamembers is a mark of true (and basic) 
object orientation.  I may not be comfortable with *all* of the things Ruby 
lets you do to a class and/or it's instantiations, but it *does* protect 
class datamembers from (accidental) clobberings.

Sincerely,
Martin