6 ms·

I'm trying to imagine why somebody would start a data analytics project in ruby.

by oofbey 4y ago

jay-barronville 4y ago
Other than the lack of library/tools comparable to Python (hence projects like this one), why not?
dajonker 4y ago
Because you already have a Ruby project and you want add analytics to it?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
looopTools 4y ago
- Because some like it better than Python/Julia/<INSERT NEXT language>. - Because they want data analytics in a ruby application - Because Ruby is awesome
peoplefromibiza 4y ago
and why not?
- revskill 4y ago
  Why not why ?
vidarh 4y ago
Having done financial modelling and data analytics in Ruby: Because I like Ruby, all the other backend code in those projects was in Ruby, and most projects don't rely on data volumes where the lack of something like Polars is an issue to begin with. Most people don't have large datasets (even many people who think they have large datasets). Some do, or require more complex supporting libraries, and I get that Ruby then often isn't practical for them, and that's fine. But it's nice to know I now have one more option reducing my need to consider another language.
claudiug 4y ago
I'm trying to imagine why somebody would start writing so hateful comment on hn. how empty the soul of that human can be?
- goatlover 4y ago
  There is a school of thought that you should use the right tool for the job, and some languages are better tools for certain tasks. Python already has all the libraries, and Julia has built-in language support. But nobody is stopping you from using Ruby or JS or PHP for whatever.
  - bhaak 4y ago
    > There is a school of thought that you should use the right tool for the job But there are often real world constraints that influence the choice of the tool. For example if you have a Rails app already, going with more Ruby code might fit better than branching out to Python or Julia. > and some languages are better tools for certain tasks. Yes, although in the case of Python, it's not the language that is better but the eco system support.
  - weatherlight 4y ago
    The right tool for the right job needs to take into consideration what languages/tools people know and have been exposed to. We process billions of events/records weekly with just Ruby and Sidekiq/Redis at my current job. Its way easier to extend what we have with Ruby than switching to Spark/Python/Scala/Kafka or whatever etc is complete overkill.
- ipsum2 4y ago
  I didn't read it as hateful, but as legitimate curiosity. Ruby is at a disadvantage because the analytics ecosystem is primarily Python based.
  - rco8786 4y ago
    Imagine if people never tried anything new simply because they were starting from a disadvantage! In machine learning this would be called a "local maxima".
nurettin 4y ago
Presumably to use polars.
swalsh 4y ago
Honestly I used Ruby about 6 years ago, but have been a python guy ever since. That said I believe Ruby's main advantage is its metaprogramming capabilities. You can build powerful DSLs in Ruby pretty quickly. Adding analytics to that could be useful in certain cases. I'd like to see spark bindings first though before I would seriously consider it.
- vidarh 4y ago
  http://ondra-m.github.io/ruby-spark/ http://ondra-m.github.io/ruby-spark/ https://github.com/ondra-m/ruby-spark https://github.com/ondra-m/ruby-spark Hasn't been updated in a long time - no idea if that's because it's complete enough or if it's been abandoned, as I don't use Spark so I haven't tested this gem myself.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

I'm trying to imagine why somebody would start a data analytics project in ruby.

by oofbey 4y ago

I'm trying to imagine why somebody would start a data analytics project in ruby.

jay-barronville 4y ago

Other than the lack of library/tools comparable to Python (hence projects like this one), why not?

dajonker 4y ago

Because you already have a Ruby project and you want add analytics to it?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

looopTools 4y ago

- Because some like it better than Python/Julia/<INSERT NEXT language>. - Because they want data analytics in a ruby application - Because Ruby is awesome

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

and why not?

revskill 4y ago
Why not why ?

vidarh 4y ago

Having done financial modelling and data analytics in Ruby: Because I like Ruby, all the other backend code in those projects was in Ruby, and most projects don't rely on data volumes where the lack of something like Polars is an issue to begin with. Most people don't have large datasets (even many people who think they have large datasets). Some do, or require more complex supporting libraries, and I get that Ruby then often isn't practical for them, and that's fine. But it's nice to know I now have one more option reducing my need to consider another language.

claudiug 4y ago

I'm trying to imagine why somebody would start writing so hateful comment on hn. how empty the soul of that human can be?

goatlover 4y ago
There is a school of thought that you should use the right tool for the job, and some languages are better tools for certain tasks. Python already has all the libraries, and Julia has built-in language support. But nobody is stopping you from using Ruby or JS or PHP for whatever.
- bhaak 4y ago
  > There is a school of thought that you should use the right tool for the job But there are often real world constraints that influence the choice of the tool. For example if you have a Rails app already, going with more Ruby code might fit better than branching out to Python or Julia. > and some languages are better tools for certain tasks. Yes, although in the case of Python, it's not the language that is better but the eco system support.
- weatherlight 4y ago
  The right tool for the right job needs to take into consideration what languages/tools people know and have been exposed to. We process billions of events/records weekly with just Ruby and Sidekiq/Redis at my current job. Its way easier to extend what we have with Ruby than switching to Spark/Python/Scala/Kafka or whatever etc is complete overkill.
ipsum2 4y ago
I didn't read it as hateful, but as legitimate curiosity. Ruby is at a disadvantage because the analytics ecosystem is primarily Python based.
- rco8786 4y ago
  Imagine if people never tried anything new simply because they were starting from a disadvantage! In machine learning this would be called a "local maxima".

nurettin 4y ago

Presumably to use polars.

swalsh 4y ago

Honestly I used Ruby about 6 years ago, but have been a python guy ever since. That said I believe Ruby's main advantage is its metaprogramming capabilities. You can build powerful DSLs in Ruby pretty quickly. Adding analytics to that could be useful in certain cases. I'd like to see spark bindings first though before I would seriously consider it.

vidarh 4y ago
http://ondra-m.github.io/ruby-spark/ http://ondra-m.github.io/ruby-spark/ https://github.com/ondra-m/ruby-spark https://github.com/ondra-m/ruby-spark Hasn't been updated in a long time - no idea if that's because it's complete enough or if it's been abandoned, as I don't use Spark so I haven't tested this gem myself.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]