On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 at 15:26 -0700, Bryan Sant wrote: > It seems to me that Ruby/Perl/Python all fill the same niche.
Then you truly do not understand the world. The world is not Java vs. C vs. the script kiddies. > In my > opinion, learning one of them gives you most of the benefit of any of > them. I'd just like to know which one would best jive with me. Any > project I pick would be equally applicable to every language I listed. Perl is completely and utterly different from python and ruby at its core (or vice versa as perl was here first). Python and ruby are perhaps more alike, but still fundamentally different in their spheres. In one sense, moving from Java to any scripting language will give you considerable benefit/insight/whatever, in another sense that is just the tip of the iceberg. I suppose you have to take that first step though. Note, I am not saying scripting languages are better than compiled/virtual machined languages. Indeed I would say the line is harder to draw all the time. Ruby is getting a virtual machine in the near future. Ruby and Java have a fascinating and fast-moving merger in JRuby. Python already has bytecode. Who knows what perl6 has in store (Jayce^, probably). I frequently consider projects that I would only do in C (perhaps C++ or Java), and others that I would never do in anything but Ruby. That said, I haven't seen anything yet that drives me to learn python, as I already know Ruby. I bet a lot of snakes feel the same way about the red gem. I once could code my way out of a cardboard box in perl, but these days I just use ruby. I think perl would be more applicable in some applications, but I either don't play in those arenas or the effort involved in remembering perl isn't worth it to me. My own recommendation based on my personal preference is Ruby. I do have substantiatable reasons but I frankly am tired of evangelising things to people who will mostly turn around and do what they like based almost entirely on emotion or convenience. (This goes for *NIX, vim, mutt, top-posting, etc. It's not that I think evanglising is bad or unimportant, or that I won't turn around and evanglise stuff in a day/week/month/year. It's just that I'm tired of doing it) I think Ruby would be a good fit for you because of JRuby. It's a fast-moving project with some amazing potential (including addressing the speed issue and interop with existing and future Java code), and now with paid full-time developers thanks to Sun. Ruby has, imho, the most supportive fun fantastic community (aside from the more traditional buzz of the rails community), and the most mind-bending paradigm shifting power (that's a good thing) of any of the alternatives except perhaps smalltalk. There's my plug. 1. http://jruby.codehaus.org/ -- Hans Fugal ; http://hans.fugal.net There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
