A Taste of Ruby

29 November 2006 at 17.39 • in Languages, Programming

My allergic reaction to hype and personal distaste for keyword block delimiters (do…end) has kept me away from Ruby, but I gave it a try the other day and you know what? I like it.

I had some minor XML-munging to do, so I started writing a Python script. But none of Python’s plethora of XML-parsing possibilities was simple or convenient, even though what I wanted to do was extremely simple. Grumbling in frustration, I decided to give Ruby a try.

Scant minutes later, I had a working script, despite never having programmed in Ruby before. The code was simple and clear, and easily extended to cover a parallel XML-processing task. That’s the kind of initial experience that will bring me back for more.

Where to Go from Here

29 November 2006 at 17.26 • in Programming

I’ve been wondering whether to keep programming or switch careers (see my last post), and I think I’ve found a way to do both.

I like working as part of a team, and I missed that as an indie developer. So I’m going to get a programming job.

I like balancing programming with other creative work, and I missed that in my former days at Microsoft. So I’m going to make time for writing and music around whatever job I get.

That’s the news in brief; now back to some ordinary, minimally-introspective blogging.