I just got an email announcing “Seven Languages in Seven Weeks” from the Pragmatic Programmers. This is exactly the kind of book that calls to me. Man, it would be so cool to learn 7 languages at a more than superficial level. My problem is that I have ideas for 7 projects that would actually be more productive than learning 7 languages. I might buy the book and not read it or buy it and read part of it before realizing I should be working on finishing one of my projects or buy it read all of it and go back to the projects I should have been working on… See that’s why I hate these kind of books, I want them and I can justify them, but I don’t know if they are really valuable for me.

On a secondary note, this book highlights a new problem for me now that I will soon have an iPad. The electronic version of the book is $22 and the print version at Amazon is $23. I want the electronic version for its convenience, but this is also the type of book which I would likely sell and that just can’t be done with an electronic version. If the electronic version were around $15, it’d be easy. At nearly identical price points it’s a tough call.

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.

I was BDDing some code for an idea I had for a Church Year website. I was using RSpec to drive the code that would return the church season based on a date. Some seasons are based on a fixed date, like Christmas, and others are relative to another date, Advent starts 3 weeks before the Sunday before Christmas. I didn’t document all the steps I took to write the code (I’m thinking of doing this as a kata), but what I wanted to point out was that at one point, I was “in the Green” and saw a bunch of duplicate code, ill-named method, and obscure variable names. I started making changes left and right while running the tests after each change and remaining “in the Green.” The experience was amazing to say the least. I hadn’t felt so proud of my code or excited about programming in a long time. I’ve always intellectually believed in the benefits of BDD, but that was the first time I’ve felt it emotionally. I can see why some people refuse to work any other way.