Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#21

Post by mixmastamyk » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 2:52 AM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #7

For what it is worth, I think you will probably learn something from trying Ruby, even if you wind up sticking with Python. The community and language design are just very different from Python's: MINSWAN v BDFL, many ways versus Pythonic PEP's, everything is an object versus some things are objects, etc. All this with the caveats that: I think both languages have advantages and disadvantages and I think knowing more…

If you are going to learn something different, learn something really different, not another dynamic unix scripting language.

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#22

Post by h1d » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 3:12 AM UTC

I have almost come to regret learning Ruby because it is a beautiful language that I wish it would be my main language but unfortunately I think it has lost scripting language race by the look of its popularity among competitors.

Part of the reason I suspect is the development cultural difference brought by language barriers. Without sound development, it surely will struggle to become better than alternatives.

https://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/4570470

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#23

Post by wasted_intel » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 5:07 AM UTC

Ruby’s beautiful object model alone is worth learning. “Metaprogramming Ruby”[0] is a great introduction to that. Its flexibility is what makes things like DSLs so easy. The language also includes functional programming influences. I wrote Django apps in Python for the better part of two years, and for what anecdotes are worth, I didn’t learn nearly as much as I did writing Rails applications in Ruby. I’d pick Ruby every time.

[0] https://pragprog.com/book/ppmetr/metaprogramming-ruby

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#24

Post by acomjean » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 5:14 AM UTC

aregsar wrote: post #3

I would take a look at Laravel which is php on rails with less magic and more built in features such as authentication and background jobs. The most important thing is that its community is growing rapidly and it has a BDFL ala DHH in Taylor's Orwell. Also there are really good fresh resources such as latacasts Codecourse and the Laracon conferences

I still like php for web development, although it seems to be falling out of favor somewhat. The new version 7 is quite fast, and its quick to get up and running. I've not used Laravel, (I use a lighter framework called Silex) but it is PHP's version of Rails.

I've found php is somewhat slightly more verbose and fewer data structures seems to make php code easier to maintain for other people than perl and java (which I also maintain...).

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#25

Post by busterarm » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 5:18 AM UTC

acomjean wrote: post #24

aregsar wrote: post #3

I would take a look at Laravel which is php on rails with less magic and more built in features such as authentication and background jobs. The most important thing is that its community is growing rapidly and it has a BDFL ala DHH in Taylor's Orwell. Also there are really good fresh resources such as latacasts Codecourse and the Laracon conferences

I still like php for web development, although it seems to be falling out of favor somewhat. The new version 7 is quite fast, and its quick to get up and running. I've not used Laravel, (I use a lighter framework called Silex) but it is PHP's version of Rails. I've found php is somewhat slightly more verbose and fewer data structures seems to make php code easier to maintain for other people than perl and java (which…

Having had to learn PHP to work on some WordPress stuff, I can honestly say that I find PHP 5.6 and onward to be a competent, usable language. It has its quirks, but so does JavaScript. In fact, I'd say PHP and JavaScript are now close cousins. The array methods are a bit annoying, but you can definitely write effective, clean code in modern PHP.

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#26

Post by busterarm » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 5:20 AM UTC

h1d wrote: post #22

I have almost come to regret learning Ruby because it is a beautiful language that I wish it would be my main language but unfortunately I think it has lost scripting language race by the look of its popularity among competitors. Part of the reason I suspect is the development cultural difference brought by language barriers. Without sound development, it surely will struggle to become better than alternatives. https…

I feel your pain. Beautiful language with no real peers in that regard, as far as I can see.

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#27

Post by cmclaughlin » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 5:56 AM UTC

I understand your concerns about Django and Flask... as someone who doesn't work with either on a regular basis, getting reacquainted with Django feels very heavy... and Flask seems too minimal.

Anyway, I just started using CherryPy for a new project and would like to recommend it. I had actually used it around 10 years ago and hadn't given it much thought until recently, but it's quite simple and nice for REST APIs.

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#28

Post by chrisfinne » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 6:23 AM UTC

I can't recall ever hearing anyone say they "hate Ruby".

Ruby is designed to make programmers happy.

Ruby and Rails are "boring" because they are mature and do their job extremely well, so the cutting-edge devs that helped get them there got bored and moved on to other newer ecosystems.

If you are more interested in getting the project done fast and efficiently and you don't mind doing it someone else's way, then RoR is a good choice.

If you like to do things your own way, then Rails will probably frustrate you because it is very opinionated on how things are done. You can override everything, but some people's personality is more suited for the node.js world that is far less of a framework and more of an ecosystem of libraries.

These are 2 popular posts that will help you figure out if RoR is a personality fit for you:

http://david.heinemeierhansson.com/2012/rails-is-omakase.htm...

https://medium.com/@timbuchwaldt/rails-is-boring-thats-great...

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#29

Post by qume » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 6:29 AM UTC

If you code alone, use the best available which generally I assume people would say Ruby.

If you are intending to collaborate then python might be a better choice as its more popular.

Just a different take. Either one is great.

Re: Ask HN: Ruby or Python for 2018?

#30

Post by nunez » Tue, Dec 19, 2017, 8:07 AM UTC

I used to hate Ruby until I had to learn it two years ago. Now, I wish that this is the only language I'd ever need to use. It's beautiful, and testing stuff with it is a BREEZE.