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What will keep Ruby from becoming bloated like Java

 
Greenhorn
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The popularity of Ruby is the simplicity of the language. As Ruby gains in popularity, what will prevent it from becoming bloated life Java? All languages evolve but is there any way to keep a the Ruby language from becoming bloated as Java is now?
 
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One thing I was impressed with is how Ruby and Rails are sewn together so seemlessly. Java is a great development language, and I love it, but it is more than just a web app language. Ruby on the otherhand (correct me if I am wrong) seems to be only a web development language, and appears to have been created with frameworks in mind.

Eric
 
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Originally posted by Eric Gero:
Ruby on the otherhand (correct me if I am wrong) seems to be only a web development language, and appears to have been created with frameworks in mind.



Not at all! The first book on Ruby devoted just a half-dozen pages to Web development, and there were no frameworks in sight. Ruby was invented as a very general-purpose language, a sort of friendlier cross between Perl and Lisp. Although Ruby and Rails are a match made in heaven, Rails comes late to the table; Ruby existed for many years before Rails appeared.
 
Eric Gero
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I didn't think that would go unchallenged. I know Ruby has been around for awhile, but I thought it was developed in Japan as a web language. Next time I will do my homework before I open my big mouth

Eric
 
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For what it's worth, the last thing I did with Ruby a couple of days ago was a script that took three XML documents and combined them into one.
 
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There are two parts to this.

As with Java, there's the laguage, and then there are the libraries.

Ruby 2.0, which is being worked on now, is an evolution, not a revolution. Not too much will change for Ruby programmers--the biggest shifts are in the underlying implementation. I don't see the laguage itself growing.

So, then, what's to stop Ruby having the same kind of library explosion suffered by Java. In theory, nothing. But, in practice, there are a couple of factors. First, we don't have the JCP. That means we don't have comittees designing things. Many features of J2EE are the result of compromises at the comittee level (OK, you can add entity beans if I can have cmp, or whatever). Most Ruby libraries are still the result (at least initially) of individual developers scratching itches.

But, you're right. This is something to fear.


Dave
 
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