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I think it mostly comes down to what you're looking for out of the language choice. Both are great language. I love the explicitness and community around Python, the meta-programming features of Ruby are a lot of fun as well. Both have great communities that support a lot of diversity. I feel python comes out a bit better on this but only just a bit. Some great fits for Python in libraries. - Syntax is easy to learn so if you have to get a team working on the same skillset this is a big advantage. - If you need to work with scholars who need to learn programming, the easy of learning python is a big advantage here. - If you work in natural language processing or with geo-spacial data then python is particularly well suited. - You need a stable language with good backwards compatibility. Some great fits for Ruby in libraries: - If you do a lot of web development Rails is an obvious advantage, though rails dominance is almost a disservice to the Ruby community by how much it obscures the language. - If you work with unstructured data I think Ruby comes out a little on top (just a little) and there are some neat meta-programming techniques to read and work with XML in ruby. - You work in a DevOps environment and need to do a lot of server provisioning, the Puppet library offers a lot to a group and leverages Ruby. - In libraries custom Fedora repository work is often done using the Hydra gems I don't think there's one better choice, it just comes down to knowing what you need to develop as far as a local community goes and picking the one that is best suited for those use cases. That said, I tend to enjoy working in Python more than Ruby. Most of my gripes with Ruby are actually probably with Rails so as a language I really do think they are both fine and I only have a slight preference for one. On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 11:43 AM, Joshua Welker <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Not intending to start a language flame war/holy war here, but in the > library coding community, is there a particular reason to use Ruby over > Python or vice-versa? I am personally comfortable with Python, but I have > noticed that there is a big Ruby following in Code4Lib and similar > communities. Am I going to be able to contribute and work better with the > community if I use Ruby rather than Python? > > I am 100% aware that there is no objective way to answer which of the two > languages is the best. I am interested in the much more narrow question of > which will work better for library-related scripting projects in terms of > the following factors: > > -existing modules that I can re-use that are related to libraries (MARC > tools, XML/RDF tools, modules released by major vendors, etc) > -availability of help from others in the community > -interest/ability of others to re-use my code > > Thanks. > > Josh Welker > Information Technology Librarian > James C. Kirkpatrick Library > University of Central Missouri > Warrensburg, MO 64093 > JCKL 2260 > 660.543.8022 > -- *Scott Turnbull* APTrust Technical Lead [log in to unmask] www.aptrust.org 678-379-9488