The Rudimentary Art of Programming & Development, a programming blog, has done a detailed comparison of Ruby and Python and declared them interchangeable. In my far less systematic comparison, that’s how it has seemed to me as well. Glad that’s settled.
Tag Archives: Python
Whitespace sensitivity
Armin Ronacher points out that in some aspects, Ruby is more sensitive to white space than Python. (Via Simon Willison.) What I can say with confidence is that I am more sensitive to white space than Python or Ruby, and I’ll also add that civilized developers adapt to the conventions of the language that they’re using. I guess what I’m saying is that arguments against Python or Ruby based on how they handle white space are fundamentally weak. In the end, they all seem to boil down to, “It doesn’t look enough like C for me to be comfortable.”
_why has a better hobby than me
_why the Lucky Stiff is working to compile Ruby into Python bytecode so he can run it using Google Application Engine. I’m just linking to this because it’s so damn cool.
Links for April 9
- Stephen O’Grady: Clouds Rolling In: The Google App Engine Q&A. Great rundown.
- Bruce Schneier: The Feeling and Reality of Security. Understanding the differences and how to manage them is the key to successful security policy.
- FP Passport: The Olympic torch’s mysterious companions. The torch escorts are members of a paramilitary group sponsored by the Chinese government. Their comrades are in Tibet suppressing dissent by force right now. I’m glad the Olympics are going to be in China because it has served to remind the world of the brutality of the Chinese regime.
- Continuing Intermittent Incoherency: App Engine: Most Of The Stuff I Want, None Of The Stuff I Don’t. Another take on Google App Engine.
Links for April 8
- gourmet.com: Betting the Farm. Great article on agriculture policy and how one family farm in South Dakota is bucking the trend of cashing in on ethanol money and government subsidies.
- Rogers Cadenhead: Washington Post Wins Another Phony Pulitzer. I loved the Washington Post article about the violinist planted in the DC subway, but Rogers argues that it’s more reality TV than news reporting.
- Ian Kallen: The WordPress Security Cancer. Outdated WordPress installations are being exploited to distribute spam. If you run it, be sure to keep your installation up to date.
- Dave Winer: Early notes on GoogleApps (Scripting News). I have my own thoughts on this but I haven’t gotten around to posting them.
- Ars Technica: Gmail being throttled, blocked by some anti-spam vendors. Now that Google’s CAPTCHA has been cracked, spammers are using bots to sign up for accounts and sending spam through Gmail.
- Freedom to Tinker: Phorm’s Harms Extend Beyond Privacy. Smart take on the many ways the Phorm Internet snooping scheme was hostile to users.
- 2008 NFL Mock Draft Database. I’m a sucker for mock drafts, and this site lists them all.
- FP Passport: The Colbert bump is real. Democratic Congressmen who take their lumps in “Better Know a District” are rewarded with a big jump in contributions.