Ruby

**sean** · 12-24-2005, 03:58 PM

My brother-in-law got me hooked on Ruby - seems like a pretty fun language (though I probably wouldn't use it for much more than recreational programming). I was just curious about who here has tried Ruby and what there experiences were (specifically with using FreeRIDE).

Dae · 12-24-2005, 04:13 PM

What got you hooked? I skipped through a tutorial and it looks a lot like Java with different syntax.

Something about a not having a semicolon ending statements bothers me deeply.

**sean** · 12-24-2005, 04:18 PM

It's just a very intuitive syntax. It's slower than molasses (FreeRIDE is the IDE disributed for Windows and is written in Ruby - SOO SLOOW), but just for fun little programs I think it's perfect.

The semi-colon thing is more a matter of style, I think. You just have to make sure you only put one statement per line, and for readable code, that's a good idea anyway.

edit: The other thing I like about it is that it's completely object-oriented, but you don't need to write out a class definition and all the over header just to print something to the screen - everything expands as you need it.

Dante Shamest · 12-24-2005, 04:42 PM

I think it's found a niche for certain web applications. It is quite slow, because there's alot of runtime syntactic trickery going on. It's a great scripting language, but I wouldn't use it for pure desktop programs.

ElastoManiac · 12-24-2005, 04:54 PM

Well you could use it for fun, nothing more...

Mad_guy · 12-24-2005, 05:29 PM

Try Ruby on Rails. It's the best thing ever, I swear to you. You'll probably never want to try another web scripting language ever. It's faster, funner, easier, and the applications pay off a lot more in the long run when using Rails.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES I SUGGEST YOU TRY OUT WITH RAILS:
Prototype.js
moo.fx
Behaviour
Markdown

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElastoManiac

Well you could use it for fun, nothing more...

Listen to me: you are dum. ok

gsoft · 12-24-2005, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Listen to me: you are dum. ok

Do you mean dum as in acronym?
DUM - Database Upgrade Manual
DUM - Desktop Unified Messaging

Im sure there is more but thats all I got. Or do you mean dum as in dumb, if so Id suggest making sure you do a spell check before posting.

**sean** · 12-24-2005, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Listen to me: you are dum. ok

Usually the drop in performance when using a high-level language is negligible but this is pathetic. Visual Studio.NET 2003 takes about the same amount of time to load as FreeRIDE. I'm still going to use it for recreational programming, but you'll wanna be wary of the word, "dum" in this case.

kungtotte · 12-25-2005, 05:17 AM

Ruby is slow. Very slow.

They are working on Ruby 2.0 which will include a bytecode compiler. The development release is currently boasting a 30-40% increase in performance over the 1.8x series of Ruby. According to what I hear anyway, I'll wait until 2.0 is released before I make any comparison.

I use Ruby as much as I possibly can, but I'm also a realist.
Ruby is too slow for a lot of things, but it's fast enough for a lot of things. I use it because it has fewer hoops to jump through to get the job done.

Also, with regards to semicolons: Use them if it makes you feel happy. The following is all valid Ruby syntax:

Code:

def some_method(foo)
    temp = foo * 3
    puts temp / 3
end

def some_semicolon_method(bar)
    temp = bar * 3;
    puts temp / 3;
end

Also, I suggest using something other than FreeRIDE. I use SciTE and it works perfect.

**sean** · 12-25-2005, 09:23 AM

Oh I hadn't looked at SciTE yet - but it was in the package. Nice editor, for a lot of languages!

kungtotte · 12-25-2005, 11:58 AM

Yeah, and it works very well cross-platform. I use it on both Windows and Linux (my primary platforms), and it works the same way on both. Which is a big plus!

I do advice you to download a newer build from http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html however. If I recall correctly the one in the Ruby installer is quite old.

I use a CVS Build which works very well.

Mad_guy · 12-25-2005, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsoft

Im sure there is more but thats all I got. Or do you mean dum as in dumb, if so Id suggest making sure you do a spell check before posting.

Yes, because as we all know there is not any possible way that a person could have misspelled such a word on purpose. Obviously, I need someone of such superior intelligence and as pedantic as you to point such a thing out. I am shocked and in awe at the sight of your MIGHTY spelling powers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_mackrory

Usually the drop in performance when using a high-level language is negligible but this is pathetic. Visual Studio.NET 2003 takes about the same amount of time to load as FreeRIDE. I'm still going to use it for recreational programming, but you'll wanna be wary of the word, "dum" in this case.

You can honestly say whatever you want about it - but Rails is a great framework, and very powerful. I suggest you try it out sometime.

prog-bman · 12-25-2005, 02:09 PM

Hey mad guy heres an idea. Go run into a wall and shutup.

Mad_guy · 12-25-2005, 02:46 PM

I forgot one thing - the Rails framework (and ruby itself) is really gaining steam right now, so it'd probably be good to give it a good shot, even if you don't like it or it's slow, Ruby books this year alone shot up 1552% in sales. Chances are, if the Ruby 2.0 release comes with a decent speed increase, we can probably expect to see Ruby (and rails as well) become quite a bit more popular than it is right now (it's happening already judging on how high the book sales have gone.) You can ignore ruby entirely for development of all kinds if you want, and that's fine. I'm suggesting you give it a shot for web, because it has become quite good at that.

As for speed - which is obviously the big issue here -, well, I never focus on speed when looking at a programming language, mainly because when you think about it there's almost no such thing as a fast language really. It all depends on the parser or how well the compiler can optimize your workings, because some languages have quite a bit more overhead than others (take for example, VB, it's a pretty high level language, the compiler for it has an awful lot of overhead to go through before it outputs the executable, which isn't guaranteed to be of super mega high quality, Delphi is just as simple and powerful of a language, but the compiler is quite fast and quite powerful producing high quality executables.) Even the lowest level languages can seem slow depending on the circumstances of your environment (you can't just say 'Program X written in C will work very very fast and get done in about 10 minutes' because it depends on your environment and what's running, too many variables to factor in.) Although it is quite noticable, Ruby is very slow compared to other languages, maybe if Ruby supports C built extentions now or sometime in the near future (never looked into it) someone can build an equivilant of the Python Psyco module ;>

Plus I like to focus more on what I need or should use (i.e. language) rather than what I might prefer to work with. Sometimes C might be better to work with, sometimes Python, sometimes Perl, sometimes Java, maybe Delphi, you get my point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prog-bman

Hey mad guy heres an idea. Go run into a wall and shutup.

Clearly, I am outmatched and must listen to you, the greatest arbiter in the known galaxy.

prog-bman · 12-25-2005, 03:04 PM

btw.

12-24-2005, 03:58 PM	#1
sean Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,746	Ruby My brother-in-law got me hooked on Ruby - seems like a pretty fun language (though I probably wouldn't use it for much more than recreational programming). I was just curious about who here has tried Ruby and what there experiences were (specifically with using FreeRIDE).
sean is offline

12-24-2005, 04:13 PM	#2
Dae Deprecated Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,032	What got you hooked? I skipped through a tutorial and it looks a lot like Java with different syntax. Something about a not having a semicolon ending statements bothers me deeply. __________________ Warning: Have doubt in anything I post. GCC 4.5, Boost 1.40, Code::Blocks 8.02, Ubuntu 9.10 010001000110000101100101
Dae is offline

12-24-2005, 04:18 PM	#3
sean Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,746	It's just a very intuitive syntax. It's slower than molasses (FreeRIDE is the IDE disributed for Windows and is written in Ruby - SOO SLOOW), but just for fun little programs I think it's perfect. The semi-colon thing is more a matter of style, I think. You just have to make sure you only put one statement per line, and for readable code, that's a good idea anyway. edit: The other thing I like about it is that it's completely object-oriented, but you don't need to write out a class definition and all the over header just to print something to the screen - everything expands as you need it.
sean is offline

12-24-2005, 04:42 PM	#4
Dante Shamest Even death may die... Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Malaysia Posts: 970	I think it's found a niche for certain web applications. It is quite slow, because there's alot of runtime syntactic trickery going on. It's a great scripting language, but I wouldn't use it for pure desktop programs.
Dante Shamest is offline

12-24-2005, 04:54 PM	#5
ElastoManiac the Great Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Republika Srpska - Balkan Posts: 377	Well you could use it for fun, nothing more... __________________ lu lu lu I've got some apples lu lu lu You've got some too lu lu lu Let's make some applesauce Take off our clothes and lu lu lu
ElastoManiac is offline

12-25-2005, 05:17 AM	#9
kungtotte Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 64	Ruby is slow. Very slow. They are working on Ruby 2.0 which will include a bytecode compiler. The development release is currently boasting a 30-40% increase in performance over the 1.8x series of Ruby. According to what I hear anyway, I'll wait until 2.0 is released before I make any comparison. I use Ruby as much as I possibly can, but I'm also a realist. Ruby is too slow for a lot of things, but it's fast enough for a lot of things. I use it because it has fewer hoops to jump through to get the job done. Also, with regards to semicolons: Use them if it makes you feel happy. The following is all valid Ruby syntax: Code: def some_method(foo) temp = foo * 3 puts temp / 3 end def some_semicolon_method(bar) temp = bar * 3; puts temp / 3; end Also, I suggest using something other than FreeRIDE. I use SciTE and it works perfect.
kungtotte is offline

12-25-2005, 09:23 AM	#10
sean Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,746	Oh I hadn't looked at SciTE yet - but it was in the package. Nice editor, for a lot of languages!
sean is offline

12-25-2005, 11:58 AM	#11
kungtotte Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 64	Yeah, and it works very well cross-platform. I use it on both Windows and Linux (my primary platforms), and it works the same way on both. Which is a big plus! I do advice you to download a newer build from http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html however. If I recall correctly the one in the Ruby installer is quite old. I use a CVS Build which works very well.
kungtotte is offline

12-25-2005, 02:09 PM	#13
prog-bman Sweet Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Tucson, Arizona Posts: 1,698	Hey mad guy heres an idea. Go run into a wall and shutup. __________________ Woop?
prog-bman is offline

12-25-2005, 03:04 PM	#15
prog-bman Sweet Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Tucson, Arizona Posts: 1,698	btw. __________________ Woop?
prog-bman is offline

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