Re: Learn a Variety of Languages . . . . . . . (was: Re: [tlug] Re: Bourne Shell is the most appropriate scripting language)

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007, Nguyen Vu Hung wrote:

> This is one of my concern. I am confusing between python and ruby.
> Most of my work is automating and text processing ( Japanese )....
> Ruby is a made-in-Japan software so I think it may dominate Python on
> Japanese text processing.

I wouldn't be so sure; over the last half decade or so, Japanese
software tends to be worse at language processing than other systems
becuase the Japanese tend to have this strange antipathy towards
Unicode. (This is probably due to confusion between representing glyphs
for text processing and what they actually look like when printed on
the screen.) I have this recollection that Python has--or at least
had--better Unicode support.

That aside, I do a lot of Japanese web sites, and use Ruby extensively
for them, and haven't had much in the way of issues. But I don't do
any particularly sophisticated text processing, such as breaking apart
"words" for the purposes of searching, and so on.

I believe that the main factor in chosing between Ruby and Python is,
first, what you're more familiar with, and second, which one you can get
better support for (via other people you know who use it in situations
similar to yours).

cjs
--
Curt Sampson       <cjs@example.com>        +81 90 7737 2974