[REBOL] Re: SketchUp -> seeking Ruby overview in Rebolese
From: tim:johnsons-web at: 10-Aug-2004 8:07
* Jason Cunliffe <[jasonic--nomadics--org]> [040809 21:07]:
> Hi Tim
>
> > It seems to take about 30% more code to do something in python as in
> > rebol, sometimes distinctly more than that, for instance the html
> > rendering resources that I use for python are *way* more verbose than
> > Andrew Martins 'ML dialect, which I use extensively for rebol.
> >
> > On the other hand, the more disciplined approach of python seems
> > (in my experienc) to lend to greater scalability, easier maintenance,
> > and less unexpected effects than rebol.
>
> Thanks..
>
> hmm Yes Python is a bit more verbose, but very consistent.
> I feel it Python is more widely and reliably 'readable' than Rebol, while
> Rebol is more fun, more mysterious and more 'writeable'.
Rebol can and *should* always be just as readable as python.
In fact in my "shop" it *will* be so. :-)
Perl has also be refered to as "write-only", but because of rebol's
more flexible syntax, we don't need to fall into that trap.
> The 'unexpected' effects of Rebol are a side effect of its extraordinary
> dense power and emergent properties.
And for the uninitiated, the trade-off is this:
Would you rather write
do_something(record["First_name"]) ## python
OR
do-something First_Name ;; rebol loads word
;; automagically from query
> I don't care personally about he rigor of object oriented or not. Ruby code
> seems clean and direct, and FUN like much Rebol.
I like python's builtin special methods, one *could* pattern that in
rebol without building it into the basic syntax....
Two things that I *would* like to see done with rebol is
1)Enable 'protect'ing of object members
2)Writing to the stand error handle. Now that's weird that
rebol won't do that!
> Ruby's author Matz appropriated lots of syntax from Perl and was reacting to
> that.
> He said in a more recent interview that he felt he got most things right,
> but had gone perhaps too far in including some of those weird variables.
> Rebol is wonderfully free of typographic clutter. At first I found the Ruby
> use of special symbols irritating, yet already I am beginning to find they
> help readability.
> Funny how that happens. Now if only I could read Japanese, I could find some
> real gems out there!
And when it comes to programming, the translator pages are not much
help at all. I tried translating the documentation for one of the
rebol server page docs from French, and I couldn't understand the
english translation at all! (and no fault of the french). Limitation
of word-for-word translation.
(tim (majored-in: philosophy-of-language))
--
Tim Johnson <[tim--johnsons-web--com]>
http://www.alaska-internet-solutions.com
