Two languages, too similar, competing in the same space.

[Bruce Eckel]

Note that my FAQ to which this refers 
http://www.mindview.net/Etc/FAQ.html#Ruby
is more of an explanation of why I don't have an interest in
writing a book on Ruby (I was getting a lot of questions on this).
Often, I have to eat my words in the future, but right now Ruby
doesn't give me the right feeling, something upon which I rely
heavily in decision-making.

On the other hand, I think competition is good, and I've found that
learning multiple languages is tremendously useful, even if I don't
end up using the other language. Learning Perl, for example, is
what lead me to Python.


> Bruce Eckles said that, if a language can't give dramatic
productivity
>improvements over a predecessor language, that it does not justify
one's
>switching. 10% improvements are not nearly enough, he said. Now,
we can
>argue until the cows come home whether or not Ruby gives *any*
improvements
>at all over Python; I suspect it is a matter of taste. But now
that Ruby is
>out there, it absorbs enormous mind share, and development time to
recreate
>libraries etc., which are already available in Python,  thus
hurting
>Python.


Most current information can be found at:
http://www.mindview.net/Etc/notes.html
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