Perl vs Python vs Ruby

Overview

Ruby

Stacks46.0K

Followers21.8K

Votes4.0K

GitHub Stars23.0K

Forks5.5K

Python

Stacks262.8K

Followers205.4K

Votes6.9K

GitHub Stars69.7K

Forks33.3K

Perl

Stacks4.3K

Followers935

Votes575

GitHub Stars2.2K

Forks602

Perl vs Python vs Ruby: What are the differences?

Syntax: Perl uses a punctuation-based syntax with a heavy use of special characters and symbols. Python, on the other hand, uses a more readable and clean syntax that emphasizes on indentation. Ruby, similar to Python, uses a more human-readable syntax with a clear focus on code readability.
Typing: Perl is a dynamically typed language, meaning that variables do not have a fixed type and can be freely assigned different types. Python, on the other hand, is a strongly typed language, where variables have fixed types that cannot be changed without explicit type conversion. Ruby, like Python, is a strongly typed language with fixed variable types that are enforced by the interpreter.
Regular Expression: Perl has strong support for regular expressions and it treats regular expressions as a first-class construct. Python also has excellent support for regular expressions, but they are not treated as first-class constructs. Ruby, like Perl, has built-in support for regular expressions and treats them as first-class constructs.
Object-Oriented Programming: Perl supports object-oriented programming with its Perl Object Environment, but it does not enforce strict object-oriented programming practices. Python, on the other hand, fully supports object-oriented programming and encourages the use of classes and objects. Ruby also supports object-oriented programming and is heavily influenced by Smalltalk, embracing object-oriented programming principles.
Package Management: Perl has its own package manager called CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) which provides a vast collection of libraries and modules for Perl. Python has its package manager called pip which is widely used for installing and managing packages. Ruby has its package manager called RubyGems which is used to install and manage Ruby libraries and dependencies.
Community and Ecosystem: Perl has a strong and active community with a large number of open-source libraries and a rich ecosystem. Python has one of the largest and most active communities with an extensive ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, making it a popular choice for web development, scientific computing, and artificial intelligence. Ruby also has an active community and a strong ecosystem but is more focused on web development and is widely used for building web applications.

In Summary, Perl, Python, and Ruby have different syntax, typing systems, support for regular expressions, approaches to object-oriented programming, package management tools, and characteristics of their communities and ecosystems.

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Advice on Ruby, Python, Perl

Octavian

Software Engineer

May 26, 2020

Decided

Both PHP and Python are free but when it comes to web development PHP wins for sure. There is no doubt that Python is a powerful language but it is not optimal for web. PHP has issues... of course; but so does any other language.

Another reason I chose PHP is for community - it has one of the most resourceful communities from the internet and for a good reason: it evolved with the language itself.

The fact that OOP evolved so much in PHP makes me keep it for good :)

377k views377k

Comments

Avy

Apr 8, 2020

Needs adviceon

React Native

Python

Flutter

I've been juggling with an app idea and am clueless about how to build it.

A little about the app:

Social network type app ,
Users can create different directories, in those directories post images and/or text that'll be shared on a public dashboard .

Directory creation is the main point of this app. Besides there'll be rooms(groups),chatting system, search operations similar to instagram,push notifications

I have two options:

@{React Native}|tool:2699|, @{Python}|tool:993|, AWS stack or
@{Flutter}|tool:7180|, @{Go}|tool:1005| ( I don't know what stack or tools to use)

722k views722k

Comments

Davit

Apr 11, 2020

Needs advice

Hi everyone, I have just started to study web development, so I'm very new in this field. I would like to ask you which tools are most updated and good to use for getting a job in medium-big company. Front-end is basically not changing by time so much (as I understood by researching some info), so my question is about back-end tools. Which backend tools are most updated and requested by medium-big companies (I am searching for immediate job possibly)?

Thank you in advance Davit

390k views390k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Ruby	Python	Perl
Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.	Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.	Perl is a general-purpose programming language originally developed for text manipulation and now used for a wide range of tasks including system administration, web development, network programming, GUI development, and more.
Statistics
GitHub Stars 23.0K	GitHub Stars 69.7K	GitHub Stars 2.2K
GitHub Forks 5.5K	GitHub Forks 33.3K	GitHub Forks 602
Stacks 46.0K	Stacks 262.8K	Stacks 4.3K
Followers 21.8K	Followers 205.4K	Followers 935
Votes 4.0K	Votes 6.9K	Votes 575
Pros & Cons
Pros 608 Programme friendly 538 Quick to develop 492 Great community 469 Productivity 432 Simplicity Cons 7 Really slow if you're not really careful 7 Memory hog 3 Nested Blocks can make code unreadable 2 Encouraging imperative programming 1 Ambiguous Syntax, such as function parentheses	Pros 1186 Great libraries 966 Readable code 848 Beautiful code 789 Rapid development 692 Large community Cons 53 Still divided between python 2 and python 3 28 Performance impact 26 Poor syntax for anonymous functions 22 GIL 20 Package management is a mess	Pros 72 Lots of libraries 66 Open source 61 Text processing 54 Powerful 49 Unix-style Cons 4 Messy $/@/% syntax 3 No exception handling 2 Bad OO support 2 No OS threads 2 "1;"
Integrations
Rails	Django	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Ruby, Python, Perl?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Swift

Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.

Rust

Rust is a systems programming language that combines strong compile-time correctness guarantees with fast performance. It improves upon the ideas of other systems languages like C++ by providing guaranteed memory safety (no crashes, no data races) and complete control over the lifecycle of memory.

Related Comparisons

Perl vs Python vs Ruby: What are the differences?

Syntax: Perl uses a punctuation-based syntax with a heavy use of special characters and symbols. Python, on the other hand, uses a more readable and clean syntax that emphasizes on indentation. Ruby, similar to Python, uses a more human-readable syntax with a clear focus on code readability.
Typing: Perl is a dynamically typed language, meaning that variables do not have a fixed type and can be freely assigned different types. Python, on the other hand, is a strongly typed language, where variables have fixed types that cannot be changed without explicit type conversion. Ruby, like Python, is a strongly typed language with fixed variable types that are enforced by the interpreter.
Regular Expression: Perl has strong support for regular expressions and it treats regular expressions as a first-class construct. Python also has excellent support for regular expressions, but they are not treated as first-class constructs. Ruby, like Perl, has built-in support for regular expressions and treats them as first-class constructs.
Object-Oriented Programming: Perl supports object-oriented programming with its Perl Object Environment, but it does not enforce strict object-oriented programming practices. Python, on the other hand, fully supports object-oriented programming and encourages the use of classes and objects. Ruby also supports object-oriented programming and is heavily influenced by Smalltalk, embracing object-oriented programming principles.
Package Management: Perl has its own package manager called CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) which provides a vast collection of libraries and modules for Perl. Python has its package manager called pip which is widely used for installing and managing packages. Ruby has its package manager called RubyGems which is used to install and manage Ruby libraries and dependencies.
Community and Ecosystem: Perl has a strong and active community with a large number of open-source libraries and a rich ecosystem. Python has one of the largest and most active communities with an extensive ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, making it a popular choice for web development, scientific computing, and artificial intelligence. Ruby also has an active community and a strong ecosystem but is more focused on web development and is widely used for building web applications.

Perl vs Python vs Ruby

Overview