On 11 Aug 2002 16:12:10 -0700, Tim Hammerquist <tim / vegeta.ath.cx> wrote: >Yup, with an anti-Perl attitude that strong, you're definitely a >Pythonista. =) :-) >Honestly, I started using Perl. On recommendation from a Perl user on >comp.lang.perl.misc, I tried Python and I was very pleased with how >clean Python's syntax was. I then looked into Ruby due to a similar >recommendation. Mmm my (little) Perl experience was terrible. I know that is very powerful (especially in regular exp. and text manipulation). But when I "met" Python (I was going to develop in Java) I claimed: " wonderful! It has nothing wrong ;-)" [it's not true, of course] >Ruby initially looked like a cross between Python and (*GASP!*) VB >(because of the "end" keyword). But I'd also heard a lot of OO >advocates sing Ruby's praises wrt it's object model... And they were >right! I heard them too. I like XP programming and TDD and other developers suggested to me to switch to Ruby (they are Java or .NET programmers) for improving my "OO-experience" and doing a bit of work too. Mmm...I think that Python is a bit more widespread than Ruby, isn't it? >OTOH, I *LOVE* Python's indentation-based >statement grouping! Oh yeah, Python's threading is quirky on some >systems. How Ruby group statements? > - It supports regex's in both an object interface (a la Python) and > via Perl-style variables. Very well. > - Ruby's object system is beautiful, elegant, and practical. It's > much more "pure" (in the Smalltalk definition) than either Perl or > Python and allows you to retroactively modify pre-existing instances > of an object at runtime by modifying their class. (See > <http://www.unr.nevada.edu/~tahammer/hack/ruby/> for an example). I'll take a look later. Mmm that's wonderful. OO a la Smalltalk! > - Its syntax contains elements of Perl's regexps, but any perceived > similarity to Perl's variable system is strictly coincidental. eg: > > Perl Ruby > ---- ---- > > var <illegal var name> lexical variable > > Var <illegal var name> constant lexical variabls > > $var scalar variable global variable > > @var array variable object instance variable > > @@var <illegal> class variable > > Any variable can hold any type of data. The format of the > variable's name merely dictates how it may be accessed. Brrr! The above is one ot the reason making me avoiding Perl >My only hope is that you take Ruby for what it is, and not for what it >might resemble at a glance. Is what I'm going to do. -- Rhymes (rhymes / NOSPAMmyself.com) http://www26.brinkster.com/rhymes " avevo Halo, poi arrivata la mia fidanzata ;-) "