What's better about Ruby than Python?

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Alexander Schmolck wrote:
>
> Would you still have a problem with macros in python if utilizing them
> required some obvious and explicit mechanism (say a
> 'use_custom_syntax' statement right at the beginning of a module that
> wants to use macros), so that their use could easily be controlled by
> e.g. project managers?

Yes you would.  In open source communities, you'd get different
philosophical camps, and people in one camp would embed 'use_custom_syntax'
in some *.h file (yeah yeah I'm a C++ programmer) that all the other *.h
files use.  When you grab that code, you're not really going to want to do
the work of making more specific 'use_custom_syntax' directives, as it would
break in all sorts of subtle ways.  So now the 'culture of feature'
supplants the culture of control.  The same could happen in a big commerical
project, for that matter.  Thus it may be wise not to allow this kind of
customization at all.

-- 
Cheers,                         www.3DProgrammer.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.