View Single Post
  #8   (View Single Post)  
Old 6th February 2010
TerryP's Avatar
TerryP TerryP is offline
Arp Constable
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: USofA
Posts: 1,547
Default

I've come to prefer Python: it makes my life easier. In researching various languages and their utility for cross platform development, with particular eyes on FreeBSD and Windows; I found Python to be much less trouble then Ruby, although getting support for the correct versions can be problematic in some cases (e.g. Panda). My research also makes me wonder if Common Lisp is the best language available... lol.


Both Ruby and Python are very fine languages and both have survived me as "General purpose language for new projects and scripts" for years at a time. I look at comparing them much the same as comparing Java and C++, they are about the same in that regard to be different beats. I find Ruby better suited for interactive usage (irb), but like wise that Python has considerably better documentation on how to use stuff - that's why I prefer Python. The documentation is just several times better then Rubies was, when I took up using Python, and I expect it still is that way. My only complaints about Python, missing dictionary keys are exceptions rather then None (more logical but also more inconvienant), and that regular expressions are not built into the language. I like how Perl mates regular expressions directly into the language, Ruby does this to a lesser extent (in fact, I often use a Ruby regexp reference when I need a regex reference for any language), but Python implements it through the re module. I don't like the re module, because I feel it unnatural compared to Perl, but re does do what's needed most of the time.


I have dabbled with Django and have no problems with it, but I have never used Rails. My use of both languages is oriented on developing cross platform applications and task specific tools, not web development. If I was going to do serious web development in any language, I would probably want something like GWT. So that would likely suggest using something like Pyjamas or RubyJS rather then Django/Rails, given my experience with using core Ruby classes and third party modules in every language, I would probably opt for Pyjamas. More likely I would be forced to use PHP, and therefore develop something around it that I can 'live with'.




Quote:
Originally Posted by roddierod View Post
It takes a week to grab the basics - depending on where you are coming from language-wise.
It actually took me parts of 3 days. One to study Python, one to learn Qt through the C++ docs and Python bindings, and a third to experiment in using them together non-trivially. It would've gone faster if I hadn't skipped using any C++ OOP features for a couple years lol.
__________________
My Journal

Thou shalt check the array bounds of all strings (indeed, all arrays), for surely where thou typest ``foo'' someone someday shall type ``supercalifragilisticexpialidocious''.
Reply With Quote