At my last job interview, I told my interviewer that my favorite language was Ruby. “Why?” He asked. I told him it was user-friendly and self-explanatory. “How?” He asked. “Give me examples.” At the time, I stammered over my words. I mostly expected him to validate my sentence rather than insist I back it up. Now, it the calm of my room, I can articulate what I meant.
Ruby reads like English. Ruby says what it means – an important quality in anything (or anyone). For instance, in English: “If we go to the store, I will buy a new pair of shoes. Otherwise, I will go to the party barefoot.” In Ruby:
if store_we_go
buy a pair of shoes
else
go to the party barefoot
end
The two languages read about the same. Even if a non-developer saw the method without understanding Ruby, I’m sure they could infer what it meant.
Learning Javascript after Ruby made me angry. I felt the complexity of Javascript unnecessary, spoiled by the dynamics of Ruby. However, I accepted the challenge, and as I delved into the interesting divots of Javascript, I can appreciate the secrecy of the language.