>>>>> "Kevin" == Kevin Smith <kevinbsmith / yahoo.com> writes:

Kevin> Suddenly, out of the mist, there's ruby. The power of
Kevin> perl. Similar to Python, but pure OO. The concepts of
Kevin> smalltalk, but with conventional syntax. As a C++ guy,
Kevin> I feel right at home.

Kevin> So I don't see existing perl users as the primary
Kevin> target for ruby. I see C++ and Java folks who, for
Kevin> whatever reason, want a dynamic language.

For what it's worth, since a lot of people unfairly call me a Perl
bigot, I'll say that what little I've seen of Ruby, I like.  But
comparing Ruby to Perl doesn't seem as interesting as comparing Ruby
to Smalltalk.

Perhaps Ruby can best be described as a lightweight scriptable
Smalltalk, without all of the cool IDE that Smalltalk also has (and
had, even back in 1980 when I first played with it).

In my non-existent spare time, I hope to read the copy of Programming
Ruby sitting here by my side, and I've at least skimmed the online
docs.

In the memespace of the web development world, selling Ruby will be a
lot harder than selling Perl, and a lot of people think that selling
Perl is now even hard, thanks to the incredible hype built up by the
Java-press-engine machine and now the .NET counter-attack.

I think it'd be better to make sure that the Perl and Ruby camps join
together and recognize that the problem is not Perl v Ruby, but rather
open-source v proprietary.  And on *that* issue, I *am* a bigot. :)

But I'm still a bit puzzled about the *point* of Ruby.  It's either
Smalltalk without the IDE, or Perl without the CPAN and
programmer/install base and wide ports, or Python without the annoying
"it'll be indented THIS WAY or Guido will come and get you" feature.

What do you want to accomplish with Ruby?

-- 
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