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I'm an extremely happy ruby user but have nothing against python, it's just that the languages operate at such a similar level of abstraction that it seems like

I'm an extremely happy ruby user but have nothing against python, it's just that the languages operate at such a similar level of abstraction that it seems like a bit of a waste to spend time learning python when I could be learning C or Haskell. FWIW though, I get serious library envy, especially with regard to NLTK. Ruby has web development cornered but is decades behind python when it comes to anything around machine learning and scientific computing.

pwang 15y ago
> Ruby has web development cornered but is decades behind python when it comes to anything around machine learning and scientific computing. The irony of this is that many folks in the Python scientific computing space pine for better syntax extension facilities so that they could do more "natural" DSLs for data analysis and embedding math inside Python code. The object lesson here is that communities and passionate users matter. Python took root in some scientific computing environments and certain dedicated individuals built up a software library and invested in growing a community that is now a force to be reckoned with. If the same people had all chosen Ruby and built a community around that, there is no obvious reason why Ruby shouldn't be the one with the great scientific libraries.