[MacRuby-devel] Tyro Needs Ruby vs. O-C Advice

[Rob Gleeson]

On 31 Mar 2011, at 04:43, Bryan Harrison wrote:

> I've decided to use an upcoming sabbatical to teach myself OS X and iOS programming.  My background includes OS X systems administration and web development, mostly using the Apache/MySQL/PHP model.  I'm familiar with OOP concepts and have trifled with any number of languages from C to AppleScript, but am not fluent in any object oriented language.  I've been exploring Xcode 4 for a week and feel conversant with the IDE if not yet able to accomplish anything with it.
> 
> So…  I understand that Cocoa is a given, but today's million dollar question is Objective-C or MacRuby?  I'm a blank slate with regard to both and so could use some good advice.  For example…
> 
> What are the advantages of MacRuby over Objective-C?
> 
> What are the advantage of O-C over Ruby?
> 
> Is Xcode's support for O-C significantly better than it's handling of Ruby?  Do I care?
> 
> At this point I'm primarily interested in OS X development, but iOS clearly needs to run a close second.  What's the current status of Ruby development for iOS and is it likely to go anywhere in the nearish future?
> 
> Any thoughts on the longer-term prospects of either language?
> 
> Any thoughts from anybody will be much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Bryan
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I prefer Ruby because it's easier to prototype quickly. I'm also way more familiar with Ruby, but when I'm writing Objective-C, I feel like I'm battling the language. With ruby, I can just solve problems, the language
part comes naturally. 

By the way, I only got into C/Objective-C recently. it's a work-in-progress, and could have a large part to do with it. 

On the plus side, if you do choose to dip into MacRuby, the APIs will map almost straight back to Objective-C Cocoa APIs, so it's not a lost cause. There is a benefit in that you'll learn Cocoa APIs, and be able to translate those back to Objective-C if/when you decide to. (The same is true if you learn Objective-C, and then MacRuby of course)

I just prefer Ruby because it's obviously my language of preference, and I seem to be able to work quicker with it. 

Maybe you could try both languages, and see which fits better for *you*? 

- Rob





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