unqb:
This is part 1 of an epic 4-part conversation Bill Venners had with Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto in 2003 for Artima.
I still prefer Python, but I absolutely adore Matz’s philosophy of designing Ruby based primarily on how one feels while programming rather than merely what one can do with it.
Instead of emphasizing the what, I want to emphasize the how part: how we feel while programming. That’s Ruby’s main difference from other language designs. I emphasize the feeling, in particular, how I feel using Ruby. I didn’t work hard to make Ruby perfect for everyone, because you feel differently from me. No language can be perfect for everyone. I tried to make Ruby perfect for me, but maybe it’s not perfect for you. The perfect language for Guido van Rossum is probably Python.
His emphasis on what’s convenient for the human rather than the machine is also refreshing. One of my biggest frustrations with software in general is that it often caters more to my computer than it does to me.
[C]omputers don’t mind if I must make effort to communicate with them or if it is easy to communicate with them. They don’t care if I put the numbers of instruction byte sequences in a file and feed it to them to run, or if a very high level language generated the instructions. The computers don’t care. We humans care about the effort we pay. Often people, especially computer engineers, focus on the machines. They think, “By doing this, the machine will run faster. By doing this, the machine will run more effectively. By doing this, the machine will something something something.” They are focusing on machines. But in fact we need to focus on humans, on how humans care about doing programming or operating the application of the machines. We are the masters. They are the slaves.
A truly enlightening read. Links to the remaining parts of the conversation are provided below. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in Ruby or programming language design in general. Great stuff.
Dynamic Productivity with Ruby
Om nån behöver poängsättningsblad inför Eurovision-finalen i kväll: varsågod! Bara att skriva ut på A4.
So this is basically what I am doing tonight.
We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; and quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. We are monkeys with money and guns.
Tom Waits (via kadrey)
An interesting model of our solar system’s path as it travels through space in the Milky Way.
Certainly a departure from usual models that show the Sun as a static object, which it certainly isn’t
I have been waiting for this picture to come back around for so long to show it to someone.
Har idag: staplat ved. Nu nöjd.
This would be a lot better with a proud self portrait of dekaminski in a flanel shirt in front of the wood pile!
It is the most beautiful part of sleep, the most delightful moment of the day: thanks to the radio I can savor drowsing and waking, that marvelous swinging between wakefulness and sleep which in itself is enough to keep us from regretting our birth.
Milan Kundera (via glorifythehour)
For some reason I had this idea kicking around in my head for ages, but it didn’t really feel relevant, you know? Like I should have been on that in season five, and I was not even a fan at that time, so. And then! The season 8 finale happened! And I thought THIS IS MY TIME TO SHINE
Today it’s time for Mayday Moshpit V!
- 18:00 – DISEMBARKED
- 18:45 – ALENAH
Looking forward to watching Alenah live after having their new album on repeat for a week.
