Python vs Ruby

Differences Between Python vs Ruby

Python and Ruby are a new generation, high-level, server-side scripting languages focusing on simpler, crispier and high-performance codes. Python was developed organically in the scientific community as a prototyping language that could easily be translated into C++ if a prototype worked. Python envisages a direct approach to programming. In Python, there is only one “best” way to do something. Ruby focuses on “human-language” programming. Its code reads like a verbal language rather than a machine-based one, which makes Ruby popular among programmers, both beginners and experts, alike.

Let us study much more about Python and Ruby in detail:

These are widely used for developing web apps and prototypes, thanks to their standard libraries, persistence support and feature-packed frameworks—Python’s Django framework and Ruby’s Ruby on Rails. Both Python and Ruby have interpreted scripting languages, unlike Java, C++ and other compiled languages. Although compiled languages tend to run comparatively faster.
Ruby on Rails is somewhat more popular as a web development tool than Django-Python. Python is favored more in the academic and scientific parlance. Python aims to make everything obvious to the programmer.
It happened long before it was first used for web development. Ruby, on the other hand, became a major player specifically because of web development. The Rails framework extended Ruby’s popularity with people developing complex websites.
Ruby follows the principle of “least astonishment” and offers myriad ways to do the same thing. These similar methods can have multiple names, which many developers find confusing and frustrating.

Head to Head Comparison Between Python and Ruby

Below are the top 6 comparisons between Python and Ruby:

Python vs Ruby Infographics

Key Differences Between Python and Ruby

Below are the lists of points, describe the key Difference between Python and Ruby:

Python has rich built-in data types in the form of list, tuple, set and dictionary, while Ruby has array and hash as equivalents to Python’s list and dictionary.
Python’s approach to avoiding namespace collision is to give each file its own namespace, which is achieved by modules, nested functions, and classes. In contrast, Ruby’s approach is more collision-prone.
The use of iterators is central to Python’s programming and blends naturally with the language features, whereas iterators in Ruby are not that significant and seldom used.
Python distinguishes between “Unicode strings”, which are collections of code-points, and “byte-strings”, which are classical bags of bytes with no determined encoding, which can be converted to a Unicode string by explicitly stating an encoding to parse with. On the other hand, Ruby treats all strings as byte-strings with a semi-hidden flag to tell what encoding they’re stored with.
The idea behind Python nested function is that you can nest defs to define functions that can only be used within the scope of another enclosing function. This is terrifically useful. When Ruby encounters nested defs, it defines a new function on the class of object the enclosing function was called on, which is not so important.
Ruby has three classes for dealing with dates and times. Date stores a date as a year–month–day tuple; DateTime stores a date and time together; Time also stores a date and time. Time and DateTime’s difference is that the former is built into the language and stores the date-time as a POSIX timespec. In contrast, the latter is in stdlib, meaning it comes with the language but isn’t loaded automatically. It implements the Gregorian calendar “properly” (counting days since some arbitrary epoch nobody cares about and adding time-of-day on top of that.). Python also has an awareness of the ‘naive’ vs ‘aware’ date-time objects. The former has no conception of the existence of time zones, and the latter being extensible to allow support for, e.g. the IANA tz database for full historical timezone awareness.
Ruby’s IO.select is nice and simple but inflexible. Python provides a whole library of interfaces to various UNIX/POSIX variants of multiplexed I/O system calls. Python also has an interface to the BSD kqueue system calls, which Ruby lacks. On the downside, IO.select, contrary to its name, sensibly picks either select or poll depending on which is most suited to the situation; Python makes you choose for yourself.
Ruby’s blocks are simpler and elegant. In comparison, Python tries to work around this by using decorators, classes, and first-class functions that still lag far behind.
List comprehensions are more readable and comprehensible in Ruby than in Python. For example, Ruby’s variant looks like (0..99).select {|x| x % 2 == 0 }.map {|x| x ** 2 } is easier to understand than the Python’s [(x ** 2) for x in range(100) if (x % 2 is 0)].

Python and Ruby Comparison Table

Below is the comparison table between Python and Ruby.

Basis Of Comparison	Python	Ruby
Core areas	Academic and scientific programming. It has numerous libraries for data science.	Web development and functional programming
Use cases	Data-heavy sites and servers with high-traffic volume. Faster operating with math, big data, and scientific calculations. Thus, preferred by data scientists for prototyping and data analysis.	Implementing complex and high-traffic sites and applications quickly
Motivation	“One right way to achieve things.” Emphasis on simplicity over flexibility	“Achieve more with less.” Freedom and flexibility to get things done in myriad ways
Distinctive Properties	Easy to learn, conservative, code readability, speedy, and efficient	Expressive, Efficient, elegant and powerful
Propensity of Developers	Stability over change, conservative code, and fewer updates	Creative coding, frequent updates, freedom and flexibility, and readable code
Major Applications	YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Reddit and BitTorrent	Basecamp, Hulu, Twitter (originally), Github, and Airbnb

Conclusion

In sum, both Python vs Ruby are fast, efficient, and have a large and loyal community. Python is the obvious choice where a lot of data computing and processing are involved. Ruby fits in scenarios where rapid prototyping of traffic-heavy applications is desired.

For web development, Ruby has Rails, and Python has Django. Both Python vs Ruby are powerful frameworks; however, Ruby is popular and flexible. There is also a very strong community built upon it, and they are always on the edge of development. Python is a preferred framework to create web applications that have the additional advantage of being easier to learn.

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