Ruby's awesome (was "Re: [Leaplist] Linux not on the list of losers! Not surprised.")

[Chris]

Steve Litt wrote:

>On Friday 09 February 2007 11:59, Homer Whittaker wrote:
>  
>
>>Damien McKenna wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>On Jan 21, 2007, at 7:32 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
>>>      
>>>
>>>>I'd add Ruby to the list, personally.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>Ruby's awesome.  What's not to like?
>>>      
>>>
>>I keep running into Ruby is so good comments, and how easy it is to use,
>>etc.  As most of the older Leapsters know, I am not, spelled NOT, a
>>programmer and do not think like one, and do not want to be one, etc.
>>So, the question is should I get me a Ruby book and if so which one?
>>Homer Whittaker
>>    
>>
>
>Hi Homer,
>
>I now use Ruby to the total exclusion of Perl and Python, but my advice to you 
>would be to use Python, because IMHO it's the best language for the 
>non-programmer, most forgiving of mistakes, easier to debug, etc. Having 
>known you since 1998, I think you'd enjoy what Python can do for you, namely 
>enabling you to do things for which there's no existing program or command.
>
>By the way, I just completed a Ruby program that takes a bunch of file groups 
>to back up (in my case, each group includes a .tgz, a .md5 and a .lst), and 
>runs a best-fit algorithm to distribute them over as few DVDs as possible.
> 
>Steve Litt
>Author: Universal Troubleshooting Process books and courseware
>http://www.troubleshooters.com/
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>Leaplist at leap-cf.org
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>
>
>  
>
I have to second Steve's motion for Python - although "best for
non-programmers" is, I think, damning with faint praise ;-)
It's not bad for programmers either - Some guy named Eric
Raymond seems to like it, and he's probably not what we'd
call a non-programmer:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3882

And I don't think Python can be dismissed easily. MIT has
apparently decided that it's an ideal intro language, but
it also scales up to some fairly heavy hitting applications:
http://www.python.org/about/quotes/

I've been banging on code since the days of System 360
assembler, dropped more (unsequenced, of course)
COBOL card decks on the floor than I care to remember,
and discovered the hard way that FORTRAN isn't actually
ideally suited for programming games - although, if I can
find the old code, I defy you to beat my 3d 4x4 tic-tac-toe
game (hint - it's a little skimpy on the user interface side
of things, so it's helpful to have your own board)

But if I had to be stranded on a digital desert island with
only one language? Python. Hands down.

Cheers,

Chris