On Plain Ruby
Andrew Glover’s Ruby off the Rails compares Java with the Ruby programming language. It discusses the conciseness of Ruby code and several language features. The article also encourages Java programmers to explore the possibilities that Ruby provides:
If you’ve ever envied the ability of multilingual friends to bridge language gaps wherever they travel or gained new appreciation for your native language by learning a new one, then you can probably see the advantage of being a programming language polyglot. Developer polyglots travel the IT world more freely than do monolinguists (sure they can apply their skills in any environment), and they also tend to better appreciate the programming language called home, because among other things they know the roots from which that home is sprung. Isn’t it time you became a polyglot?
It looks like I am a programming language polyglot. Being able to exercise skills in any environment is very satisfying. Coding with Ruby is a real joy, and its terse nature is less intimidating and distracting than that of Perl. Even if one does not plan to implement great systems in Ruby, experience with the language will expose one to new ways of thought, which should be very exciting to all enthusiastic developers.