Forum: Ruby Python or RUBY?

Hi.What do you think is easier?
Python or RUBY?
I'm a kid.

Well, you did ask on the ruby-talk mailing list…

Why don't you try them both and see which you prefer?

It's a tricky question.

for beginner programmers, both are good, but Python has more 
documentation
in more languages, so that's a plus.

If you know how to program already, ruby has a more interesting 
structure
with it's capability to ask self questions inside the program.

Gedece

Radu M. wrote:
> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.
>
For anything really basic they're about the same.  So this is just about
more advanced options.

Which is easier depends on what you're doing.  Python comes with more
built-in libraries, but it's not that difficult to add more libraries in
either language.  More of the libraries for Ruby seem to be designed to
facilitate building web pages.

In an orthogonal direction, Python strings are immutable, so if you're
going to be changing what's in a string Ruby is probably a better
choice.  But there are good reasons why Python decided to make strings
immutable...that you may encounter if you start playing around with
multi-threaded processes.  (N.B.:  Ruby "threads" aren't real
multiprocessing threads, due to libraries that were written assuming
that multiprocessing wouldn't happen.  To get the equivalent in Ruby you
need to go to Processes.)

On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 4:41 PM, Radu M. <lists@ruby-forum.com> wrote:
> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.

http://tryruby.org

http://www.trypython.org

see which one you like better. good luck.

Radu M. wrote in post #1084143:
> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.

There is a python book called "Hello World! Computer Programming for
Kids and Other Beginners":


http://www.amazon.com/Hello-World-Computer-Program...

Am 12.11.2012 23:41, schrieb Radu M.:
> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.

It's really only a matter of taste. I like Ruby :)

A tutorial for beginners: http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/
(there is also a book).

Or look at http://hackety.com/

Subject: Python or RUBY?
  Date: Tue 13 Nov 12 07:41:25AM +0900

Quoting Radu M. (lists@ruby-forum.com):

> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.

It is not such a good approach to ask which one is easier. If you
really wish to learn to solve problems with computer programs, you
should keep in mind that programming is *not* easy. It is an
interesting way to use your brain, and eventually you may end up
finding people who pay you for that. But it is not easy.

I believe the Ruby approach makes the hike more pleasurable, but climb
you must.

A well-known quote from Matz:

> Instead of emphasizing the what, I want to emphasize the how part:
> how we feel while programming. That's Ruby's main difference from
> other language designs. I emphasize the feeling, in particular, how
> I feel using Ruby. I didn't work hard to make Ruby perfect for
> everyone, because you feel differently from me. No language can be
> perfect for everyone. I tried to make Ruby perfect for me, but maybe
> it's not perfect for you. The perfect language for Guido van Rossum
> is probably Python.

One of the advantages of being a kid now is that you have access to
these vast tinkering platforms. I had the ZX80 and basic, and they did
not come for free...

Carlo

On Nov 12, 2012, at 11:41 PM, Radu M. <lists@ruby-forum.com> wrote:

> Hi.What do you think is easier?
> Python or RUBY?
> I'm a kid.

Honestly, I could start to weight features, but this would be out of 
context for a beginner.

If you are a kid learning to program, do it as I did when I had the same 
question: flip a coin and start coding. If one absolutely doesn't suit 
you, try the other. Don't let "easy" fool you. Learning something well 
is hard work in any case and sometimes frustrating in the beginning, 
especially in programming. Be aware that programming is a very young 
discipline and changes all the time - thats one of the things you are 
going to see in both programming languages. Thats also what most 
programmers love about it.

Also, programming is much more than coding programs: it is also asking 
others for help or guidance and about communities. In that respect, both 
the Python and the Ruby community are very good choice. Both have a lot 
of people around the mailing lists and forums that are willing to help. 
Be upfront about your age and state of learning and people will be much 
more willing to help you and invest time. Also, learning how to describe 
a problem to other people is one of the most important skills a 
programmer can have and mailing lists are one of the best places to 
learn that.

Regards,
Florian

Ok...Thanks everybody. Ruby is easier than Python...
One more question: Do I need to learn original Ruby to make games with 
Gosu gem?

Just some advice for when you're actually coding: the easier option is
not always the better one. Don't be afraid to jump into a problem that
you think you "can't solve" because you're a beginner; if you don't
you can't really learn anything. In my opinion there isn't a such
thing as "beginner level" programming, solving a problem that has
actual application can have varying difficulty. Don't worry to much
about avoiding the tricky bits in coding.

That's a relative statement. C++ is easier than C and C is easier than
ASM. Though you'd be hard set to find a c++ programmer with no
knowledge of pure c.

The concepts out way the semantic syntax. Having the luxury to express
yourself without to much in building a abstracted hidden element is
the most important at first. The long term goal for new programmers is
to think in regards not of the tool used but what the foundational
knowledge is. Anything else is simply a dependency of knowledge which
force most people to limit themselves on the tech used. Anything you
can express in one language should be available in any other language
regardless of paradigm. Set no limits on yourself and your will become
what your currently setting out to be. In my opinion ruby is a great
tool and an even better second language. It really is made by a
programmer for programmers. Discovering why it's awesome can only be
seen once you have spent some time doing `hello world`, transverse
containers, and flipping bits on one language or another to compare
and contrast.

There are some free tutorials online under the name "How to Think Like
a Computer Scientist" --- They are for languages other than ruby but
duplicate the concepts from one language to another. Take the time and
go through one of those. Also regardless whether you pick a "easy"
repl based interpreter language or an compiled implementation language
the concepts become a benchmark for what is "hard" not the tool used.
Also the concepts themselves are what you will bring with you over to
the next language and technology used. Theory over syntax abstraction
wins every time. It's what separates a low paid developer from a
programmer free to fix their own problems as there are no limitations
but the ones you impose on yourself.

I hope my 2 bits help you as it's an interesting leap going from
beginning to intermediate skills.

~Stu