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Java vs Ruby

By Priya PedamkarPriya Pedamkar

Java vs Ruby

Differences Between Java and Ruby

Java is a programming language.Java is a platform-independent language. That means java is not specific to any processor or runs on most operating systems includes Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.  As mentioned earlier, Java is also a computing platform. The Java platform is a collection of programs that helps develop and run programs written in the Java programming language. Java platform also includes an execution engine, compiler and a set of libraries. Ruby is a scripting language. Ruby is an object-oriented programming language and is a powerful, dynamic, flexible, interpreted, reflective, object-oriented and general-purpose programming language with a complex but at the same time expressive grammar. It also has core class libraries with rich and powerful APIs.

Java

Java is a programming language and a computing platform for application development first released by developed by Sun Microsystems, which Oracle Corporation later acquires in 2009. Nowadays, the Java platform is commonly used as a foundation for developing and delivering content on the web. Java is very fast, robust, reliable, and secure.t is a general-purpose programming language with a lot of features in it which makes the language suitable for use on the WWW (World Wide Web).

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Ruby

Ruby is a scripting language designed and developed by Yukihiro Matsumoto in the mid-1990. Ruby is open-source, and also it is freely available on the Web, which is subject to a license. Ruby has many similar features that Python and Perl scripting languages possess. Ruby programming language mainly focuses on simple and more productivity, with an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write. Each and every code in Ruby has its own properties and actions. Here properties mean to variables, and actions mean methods. Ruby follows the principle of POLA – Principle of Least Astonishment, which means that the Ruby language behaves in such a way as to minimize confusion for experienced users.

Head to Head Comparison Between Java and Ruby (Infographics)

Below is the Top 7 Comparison Between the Java vs Ruby:

Java vs Ruby

Key Differences Between Java and Ruby

Below are the lists of points, describe the key differences:

  1. Java needs to be compiled before running the application, whereas in Ruby no need to compile the code.
  2. Only classes are objects, whereas everything in Ruby is Object.
  3. Variables in Java are statically typed, whereas, in Ruby, variables are dynamically typed.
  4. Member variables have access identifiers (Private, Public, and Protected) in Java, whereas in Ruby, all the member variables are private by default.
  5. Null Value declaration is different in both Java and Ruby by declaring with different keywords, i.e., a null value is declared with “null” in Java, wherein in Ruby, it is declared with “nil” keyword.
  6. Casting is also different in both Java and Ruby. Casting in Java, objects may be cast to other objects if the objects being cast are of the type of the objects being cast to. But in Ruby, casting is not used because variables are dynamically typed and also assigned to any other type.
  7. In Java, methods will have package access by default and require a return type, whereas methods in Ruby begin with defend end with an end.
  8. Parentheses in method invocation are mandatory in Java. For example, define a method hello that returns a Hello message by the below program.

public class Hello {
public String hello(String name){
return "Hello "+ name;
}
}

But in Ruby, parentheses in method invocation are not mandatory, which is optional. For example, define a method hello that takes a name argument and returns a Hello message.

class Hello
def hello(name)
return "Hello " +name
end
end

  1. A class can extend to another class both in Java and Ruby. In java, a class can be extended using keyword – extends as follows:

public class LinkedHashSet extends HashSet{}

But in Ruby, a class can extend to another class using ‘<‘. For example, the Catalog class extends the ActiveRecord:: Base class.

class Catalog < ActiveRecord::Base
end

The exception is handled using the try-catch-finally construct in Java, consisting of one try block, one or more catch blocks, and optionally followed by a final block. Whereas in Ruby, exceptions are handled by using the begin-rescue-ensure-end construct.

Java vs Ruby Comparison Table

Below is the comparison table between  Java vs Ruby

Basis for
Comparison		 Java Ruby
Compilation Java has compiled programming language. Java applications required compilation before running. Ruby has interpreted scripting language and run directly without first compiling and generates the bytecode.
Statement require a statement in Ruby is used to import a package or a module.

Some external files may need to be included in a Ruby application by using require.

 import statement is used to load a package in Java.
 

Object-Oriented

 

 Everything in Ruby is an object – includes variables, numbers, and methods. Only classes have objects in Java.
Typed Variables Variables are dynamically typed in Ruby, which means variables do not have an explicit type associated with them. Variables are statically typed in Java, which means variables have a type associated with them.
Member Variables All the member variables are private in Ruby. Member variables in Java have package access by default and may be declared with identifiers (i.e., public, private, and protected identifiers.

  • Private members have access only within the class itself.
  • Public members may have access by any other class.
  • Protected members have access within the same package as the class declaring them and in subclasses of the class.
Class and Method Definition

 
  • end keyword is used to define a class/method block in Ruby.
  • Ruby class should begin with a capital letter.
  • Class definitions do not have an access modifier in Ruby.
  • Braces are used to define a class/method block in Java.
  • A class is defined using the class modifier, which needs to begin with a capital letter.
  • Class definitions have an access modifier (Private, Public & Protected) in Java.
Roles and Responsibilities
  • Analyzing user requirement.
  • Designing stable, robust and scalable features.
  • Building and maintaining efficient, reusable, and reliable Ruby code.
  • Knowledge of front-end technologies like JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and JQuery.
  • Updating with the latest innovations and best practices in the market.

 
  • Analyzing user requirement.
    Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.
  • Developing Java applications (Java-based web services).
  • Conducting clean software analysis, programming/building, testing, and debugging.
  • Program Architecture
  • Project Management

 

 

Conclusion

Both Java and Ruby are similar and shares a lot of parallel features. At the same time, they both have their own specific features which help with a specific requirement. But definitely, Ruby is not a replacement for Java. Java EE is the enterprise framework which is to develop Model-View-Controller applications with Java and Ruby; Ruby on Rails is the Model-View-Controller framework.

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This has been a guide to Differences Between Java vs Ruby, their Meaning, Head to Head Comparison, Key Differences, Comparison Table, and Conclusion. You may also look at the following articles to learn more –

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  4. Java vs Java EE