Python vs. Ruby

[Lyle Johnson]

Fred wrote:

> My question is this -- what are the qualitative differences between 
> Python and Ruby? Does Ruby has any strengths, either in the language 
> itself or its available libraries, that are better than Python? Or are 
> they pretty much even?

This has been discussed to death in the past and so you should be able 
to dig up a lot of information with your search engine of choice. 
However, this entry (now a few years old) from the Ruby FAQ presents one 
Python user's opinion of the Ruby language:

     http://www.rubycentral.com/faq/rubyfaq-2.html

What it doesn't address is the issue of available libraries, and here 
Python wins, hands-down. In most cases, Ruby equivalents for your 
favorite Python libraries are in fact available -- but the trick can be 
finding them, or finding English-language documentation for them (as 
many are developed in Japan).

> Also, on the issue of threading -- does Ruby have better support for 
> threading than Python? Or are they pretty much equal?

No, Ruby and Python use very different threading implementations. Python 
uses "native" or "system" threads (depending on your choice of 
terminology) while Ruby uses "user" or "lightweight" threads.