Michele Campeotto: Tag ruby

Ruby and Python: perspectives

micampe — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:03:00 -0800

I just realized something interesting.

In Ruby you mix in modules that add methods to objects that implement interfaces.

In Python you have functions that you use on objects that implement interfaces.

One easy example are enumerables/iterables: in Ruby, an object is enumerable if it implements the each method. The object can then mix in Enumerable to gain some methods that you can use:

f = File.new(".bashrc", "r")
lines = f.find_all { |l| l =~ /^[^#]/ }
# or lines = f.grep(/^[^#]/)

In Python, an object is iterable if it implements the __iter__ method, and the language “knows” how to use the iterators:

f = file(".bashrc", "r")
lines = [ l for l in f if not l.startswith("#") ]
# or lines = filter(lambda l: not l.startswith("#"), f)

other examples are any and all, which incidentally are what started the discussion with Francesco about this:

In Ruby, the any? method is added to every enumerable object that mixes in Enumerable:

lines.any? { |l| l =~ /^#/ }

In Python, any() is a built-in function (introduced in 2.5) which knows how to use any sequence:

any(l.startswith("#") for l in lines)

So Ruby works from the inside, and Python from the outside of objects. I think therefore that the next comparison between the two languages should not be side-by-side, but inside-and-out.

There are two kinds of Ruby on Rails enthusiasts in the world

micampe — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 06:03:00 -0700

Warning: pointless rant ahead.

There are two kinds of Ruby on Rails enthusiasts in the world: those that used Java before and those that used PHP.

The first kind is amazed by Ruby on Rails because they finally found a smart and easy way to do what they did for the last ten years. They found little technically groundbreaking in Rails, mostly a great execution and tight packaging of proven techniques.

On the other side, people used to PHP found in Rails the promised land: it’s like if they jumped from procedural to object oriented programming.

These are the most annoying: they’ll spend all day telling everybody how great Rails is or how in Rails you never have to solve any problem. You’ll even find them commenting in blogs discussing issues with other platforms: “Rails doesn’t have this problem”.

Most of them couldn’t write a plain Ruby program outside of Rails, but they’ll tell you that Ruby is the way of the future and no other languages are needed or worth using. Others are probably frustrated because they’d really like to use Rails at work and instead they are forced to hack on someone else’s unmaintainable PHP code.

Dudes, Ruby on Rails is great, I mean great, but the world will not be counting years Before DHH and After DHH from now on.