Ruby and Python are two very famous programming languages in the world, but in its own way both of the languages have its own strengths and applications. Both are high level, easy to learn, and both are good, they just cater to different use cases and different developer preferences. The key differences between Python development vs Ruby development will be discussed in this blog post and the purpose is to give you a comprehensive comparison of the two development tools from features, performance to community support.
- Language Overview
Ruby
Ruby is a dynamic object oriented programming language focussed on programmer happiness and productivity. Ruby was created in the mid 1990s by Yukihiro Matsumoto and is famous for its elegant syntax and is thus a pleasure to write and to read.
Python
Guido van Rossum created Python in the late 1980s, an interpreted, high level, easy to read and understand language with its straightforward syntax. Python is intended to be straight forward to learn and is utilized in many applications, from web development to data science.
- Syntax and Readability
Ruby
One of the features for which Ruby is known is its elegant and expressive syntax — for the most part Ruby code reads like English. It’s about readability and makes it appealing for rapid development. Ruby can be a little more flexible in syntax sometimes and, if not managed properly, it can lead to inconsistent results.
Python
Python is a language with a lot of emphasis on simplicity and clarity and distills all of its syntax to a strict indentation structure used to enforce code organization. That makes Python very beginner – friendly, because its syntax uses the syntax for clean and readable code. Python’s motto is best summarized as “There should be one—and preferably only one—obvious way to do it.”
- Performance
Ruby
Especially if performance is concerned, Ruby is generally slower than Python as in execution speed. Performance depends on the particular Ruby implementation used (MRI, JRuby), however. This speed may be acceptable for many Ruby on Rails web applications built, as you gain productivity by developing quickly.
Python
More often than not Python performance will be better than Ruby’s – for computational tasks. Implementations such as PyPy use Just In Time compilation to deliver impressively good speeds. Because of this, Python is good for applications that need to crunch through lots of data or do machine learning.
- Frameworks and Libraries
Ruby
Among others, Ruby on Rails is a framework for Ruby development that created a very opinionated structure for building web applications which makes Ruby on Rails the standout choice for Ruby development. Rails is convention over configuration and makes developers happier as they are able to focus on building features rather than spending time configuring things. Notable other Ruby frameworks are Sinatra if you are building a lightweight project or Hanami if you need modularity.
Python
There is an overflowing plethora of frameworks and libraries available in Python. In case of web development, the most popular ones are Django and Flask. Flask is light and flexible with flexible customisation, while Django is a full featured framework with loads of built in tools. In addition, Python is very good in scientific computing with NumPy and pandas, machine learning with TensorFlow and scikit_learn.
- Community and Support
Ruby
There is a very passionate and active community across the Ruby ecosystem, but especially around the Ruby on Rails framework. Compared to Python’s community, however the community is smaller, and smaller does not mean lesser in any way. The community is dedicated, and there are a lot of great resources such as documentation, forums and meetups. It also supports a community focus for developers to ask for and share best practice.
Python
There is one of the biggest and the most diverse Python community among programming. If you are a developer, you are in luck because this language has extensive documentation, tutorials and forums to help you out. In data science, machine learning and academia specifically, the community is particularly strong, and hence Python is a go to language for researchers and scientists.
- Use Cases
Ruby
Web Development: A huge number of developers use Ruby on Rails to build the applications, mostly related to startup and MVP (Minimum Viable Products).
E-commerce: Ruby is flexible and easy to use and lots of e commerce platforms like Shopify use it in particular.
Prototyping: Ruby is perfect for prototyping and iterative design because of Ruby’s quick development cycle.
Python
Data Science and Analytics: Data manipulation and visualization made Python the default choice among data scientists.
Machine Learning: Python is the dominant language when doing machine learning and AI development with powerful frameworks such as TensorFlow and PyTorch.
Web Development: Django and Flask are increasingly becoming the preferred frameworks for all those beautiful Python based web applications. - Learning Curve
Ruby
Ruby is beginner friendly, but the language’s syntax is a little tricky for new developers. The whole experience is enjoyable to many because the language is happy coding in itself.
Python
It is often suggested that learning Python can teach you how to code because it is easy to learn and has clear syntaxes. It is easier for beginners to get into a structured approach to program concepts.
- Job Market and Opportunities
Ruby
The demand for Ruby developers is strong, especially for Ruby on Rails development, but it’s not nearly as large as the demand for Python developers. Ruby developers find many startups and tech companies that want to hire them to develop web application projects.
Python
Due to the high rate of Python development, it has come to be widely used in data science, machine learning, web development, etc., which is why today, Python developers of any kind are much in demand in the industry. Python is very versatile, giving many jobs.
Conclusion
Ruby and Python have their strengths and uses (or rather, their shortcomings and uses) and are useful for some things and not useful for others, depending on project and preference. Ruby is great for web development and Ruby on Rails in particular deliver rapid development cycles and an elegant syntax. However, Python excels in the field of data science, machine learning, and generic programming because of its robust libraries and vibrant, large community.
In the end, it will boil down to what you need for your project and what your team and long term goals are. Knowing how each language is unique about you’ll know what suits you best. Ultimately, whichever you choose — Ruby or Python — both bring lots of great power with them to make your ideas become real.