Linked by Kroc Camen on Sat 27th Dec 2008 20:52 UTC
Dave Thomas, programming book author and Ruby evangelist presented the keynote at RailsConf2008; "There's a sound that no presenter wants to hear, and that's dead silence. And that's what greeted me when I made a suggestion in my RubyConf keynote [...]. I think by the end of the talk, though, most people were convinced." This is one of the best programming topic presentations I have ever seen. Even if you've never written a line of Ruby, you'll find it perfectly clear-and enjoyable. Watch, and then "read more" for Kroc's personal commentary on the issues raised.
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Member since:
2005-07-24
Kroc, sometimes Ruby enthusiasts criticize Python for using built in functions where Ruby uses methods. For example len(mylist) instead of mylist.length(). Sometimes claiming that Python is not really object oriented because of that bit of what those particular critics consider "impurity".
Guido van Rossum once countered, when specifically asked his opinion on the matter, that the Ruby style of syntax should appeal to people who also prefer to say things like "John threw grandfather down the stairs his hat". It's really just a disagreement over syntactical style. Integers, etc. in Python are objects just like everything else. And anyone who wants to subclass and "throw grandfather down the stairs his hat" is perfectly able and entitled. The language will not throw grandfather down the stairs for you, however. ;-)
This may be more than you wanted to know. But I figured I would supply some context for vivainio's post.
Edited 2008-12-28 00:07 UTC