I found this really enlightening post and presentation on Python vs. Ruby from a Python guy, Gary Bernhardt. Gary first talks about some features of Ruby that violate the “Zen of Python.” He only presents 5 violations, but you can see for yourself that Ruby does violates most of this “Zen.” Then Gary goes on to discuss he likes about Ruby, namely RSpec and Cucumber. Then he points out that these cool packages are possible because Ruby allows you to violate the “Zen of Python.” It is the very thing that he dislikes that makes the things he likes possible!
After watching the presentation, I have pretty much the exact same feelings as the presenter and yet, as of now, I’d rather work in Ruby. I love the ideals of Python especially “one obvious way to do it” which is not at all the case with Ruby. I can’t stand the idea that a framework is mucking with the base functionality of the language behind my back like Rails does. But these are the very influences that have lead to a Ruby community that focuses on BDD which in practice is what I enjoy.
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