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Ruby vs Swift: What are the differences?
Key Differences between Ruby and Swift
Ruby and Swift are both popular programming languages that are widely used in web and app development. Although they share some similarities, there are several key differences between the two.
Syntax: One of the most noticeable differences between Ruby and Swift is their syntax. Ruby has a more flexible and dynamic syntax, allowing developers to write code in a way that feels more like natural language. On the other hand, Swift has a more strict and static syntax, enforcing strong typing and stricter code organization.
Type System: Ruby is dynamically typed, meaning that variable types are determined at runtime. This provides flexibility but also introduces the potential for type-related bugs. In contrast, Swift is statically typed, requiring variables to be declared with specific types at compile-time. This helps catch potential errors early on and provides better code safety.
Concurrency: Ruby is known for its inbuilt concurrency model that allows for easy handling of multiple tasks simultaneously. On the other hand, Swift provides better support for multithreading and concurrent programming through Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), which simplifies the management of concurrent tasks in a more efficient manner.
Memory Management: Another key difference between Ruby and Swift is their approach to memory management. Ruby uses automatic garbage collection, where the interpreter takes care of freeing up memory when objects are no longer in use. In contrast, Swift uses automatic reference counting (ARC), a more lightweight and efficient memory management system that tracks and releases objects as soon as they are no longer needed.
Frameworks and Libraries: Ruby has a rich ecosystem of frameworks and libraries, particularly for web development, including Ruby on Rails. Swift, being a relatively newer language, has a smaller ecosystem of frameworks and libraries but is continuously growing, especially in the iOS development sphere with frameworks like SwiftUI and Combine.
Platform Support: Ruby is primarily used for web development and is not as widely supported on other platforms. Swift, originally developed by Apple, is predominantly used for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS app development. It benefits from extensive support and integration with Apple's development tools and platform-specific APIs.
In summary, Ruby and Swift differ in their syntax, type system, concurrency models, memory management, available frameworks and libraries, and platform support. Each language has its own strengths and areas in which it excels, making it important for developers to consider their project requirements and target platforms before choosing between the two.
Hello!
I'm a developer for over 9 years, and most of this time I've been working with C# and it is paying my bills until nowadays. But I'm seeking to learn other languages and expand the possibilities for the next years.
Now the question... I know Ruby is far from dead but is it still worth investing time in learning it? Or would be better to take Python, Golang, or even Rust? Or maybe another language.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Caue, I don't think any language is dead in 2022, and we still see a lot of Cobol and Fortran out there, so Ruby is not going to die for sure. However, based on the market, you'll be better off learning Goland and Python. For example, for data science, machine learning, and similar areas, Python is the default language while backend API, services, and other general purpose Goland is becoming the preferred.
I hope this helps.
I feel most productive using go. It has all the features I need and doesn't throw road blocks in your way as you learn. Rust is the most difficult to learn as borrow checking and other features can puzzle a newcomer for days. Python is a logical next step as it has a huge following, many great libraries, and one can find a gig using python in a heartbeat. Ruby isn't awful, it's just not that popular as the others.
Another reason to use python is that it is not compiled. You can muck around in the interpreter until you figure things out. OTOH, that makes it less performant. You really need to think about your use cases, your interest in lower-lever versus high-level coding, and so on.
I enjoy coding in Python. I think it's minimalistic and readable syntax and lang features are just unparalleled. They are perfect for prototyping and for the software engineering in general. If I'm not wrong Gitlab marked Python as #2 popular language after JavaScript. Beyond that, Python ecosystem and areas of usage are enormous. In areas like ML/DL, it's important to know Python to leverage variety of existing tools and frameworks.
Then, I have learned and worked with Golang. I use it where I think I would need a slightly better performance than in Python. Plus, relatively small and self-contained executable is a great thing to have. If you plan to write distributed systems, extend Kubernetes or do similar things I think Golang is a great choice. It's also simple and straightforward, especially when you want to do effective multithreading. Although I don't like that Golang is more low-level than Python. Sometimes I feel like I need to implement myself too much things.
Now, about Rust. It's my second try to learn Rust. First time I decided to learn Golang as I understood it in 30mins or so while I was struggling to compile/do anything meaningful there for quite a bit. So I personally don't think Rust is super easy. I have got back to learning Rust as it's going to fill one of gaps in my problem solving toolkit - let me write low-level system programs (e.g. linux kernel modules). I don't want to learn "obsolete" C/C++ (my reasons are similar to why Google has recently introduced Carbon - a replacement for C/C++ codebases). If you are not going to tight your life with system-like programming, Rust may be an overkill for you.
Finally, I have never coded in Ruby, so are not going to comment it.
Because it opens endless possibilities you can do anything and everything you want to. from ai to app development to web development.
I'm almost same position as you. 8 years same company with c#. I tried both Python and Golang. I like working with Golang. Check this litte go doc. After reading this document and following its examples, I decided to work with "go" https://www.openmymind.net/assets/go/go.pdf
Since you are very experienced, picking up a language will not take you more than a week. Rust is a very new language. Many startups are still experimenting with it. Golang is very popular nowadays. You can see a lot of golang jobs in the market. The best part is, compiled code is single binary and has a minimal footprint. Rails is a compelling framework; believe me, many websites like Shopify, GitHub, GitLab, etc., are powered by the rails framework. You can also leverage the power of metaprogramming in Ruby. Python is memory and CPU intensive. It is not as performant as the other three. If you want to go into Data Science, Python is the language. Good luck, buddy. Feel free to connect with me: https://twitter.com/avirajkhare00
Either Python or Golang, for all the enlightened reasons already mentionned in all advices/comments :) Enjoy!
Hello, I am still a student and would like to ask a question. Currently, I am developing in mobile development with Flutter in the frontend and Python in the backend part. Right now I have to make a choice about developing a mobile app or developing a backend to progress more professionally. My questions are as follows:
1) If I prefer the mobile application area, will I only work with the Ui/Ux developer with the front-end and code the designs in Swift Kotlin languages, am I responsible for the back-end software?
2) I have a product that generates new ideas so I like to control the development and work there because the backend is the brain, but are they independent from each other in the backend mobile application? Is the mobile app developer responsible for the backend software?
3) I don't like graphic design because I don't like it if it's not perfect and I get stressed. Am I responsible for the graphic design in the mobile app?
4) Is a mobile app developer also a backend developer?
I know these are very simple questions, but they are very important to me. Thanks for your answers.
Hi Hüseyin! 1-2) In my experience If you are a Mobile Applications Developer you will have the following responsabilities: - Develop (not designing) both functionality and screens of the app you are working - Consume (not develop) third party or self company owned APIs or Backend services - Distribution tasks. - Mantainance tasks. Now, there will always be companies wishing you know the whole thing (ui/ux, backend, frontend, mobile, cd/ci, data science, etc.). And of course it will be helpful for you to know a little bit of the stuff around mobile development, but it's not very common since it's not part of the responsabilities of a mobile app dev.
3) No, you are not responsable for the designs of your application, that's why companies have Product designers, ux designers, ui designers for preparing the screens, logos, color palettes, etc for products. As a developer your job is to see and examine the designs and take them from Figma, InVision, Zeplin, etc to the Code editor.
4) This is the thing, if you are working as a Mobile Developer you might know about Mobile development, not backend, not frontend, not ui ux. BUT if you know a little about backend that might be helpful although backend should not be your responsability.
I hope this makes sense to you. Cheers!
As a mobile developer, I'm usually a member of a larger team and it's usually another person's responsibility to develop the backend/API, and another person's to do the UX/design. Very very few teams use cross-platform tools like Flutter or React Native, because tools like those tend to make mediocre apps that scale poorly and are impossible to debug, so make sure to get familiar with Swift/iOS or Kotlin/Android (or both).
Hi! I think most of your questions led to these answers:
Mobile software developers don't responsible for the back-end part, or even graphic design. Of course, the back-end part should be done by a back-end developer. The graphic design, I'd say that if you work on a start-up, you might be the one who does since there isn't much manpower there, but in the larger company, they would have a designer especially in UI/UX. You'll have a mockup for the application that you need to follow. As a developer, you're expected to code, not design.
I've said that the responsibility isn't yours, but of course, you'll have an advantage over others if you know UI/UX, or back-end as well. That would help you a lot to be a good mobile developer.
Good luck!
Hey there, we are looking to develop our own layer 1 blockchain. We're splitting the responsibilities for origination, clearing, and settlement across three independent but cooperating node networks. We've gotten our Proof of Concept up using Ruby on Rails for the nodes, you can see it as the attached link. So far, so good. Now we are looking to convert it into a distributable and are trying to figure out which language is the best for this.
Essentially our needs from the language are: solid networking tools and speed, very fast execution of basic actions, some parallel execution, and able to compile the end product into an easy to distribute and use package for end users.
I was learning Rust, but I have a healthy amount of experience with Swift and right now, it's only me coding. I've only done iOS coding, but have built a fintech app from scratch that's now in the app store so I'm pretty familiar with the language and its benefits. Haven't experimented with Vapor or any of the application development tools, and I wanted to know if it is a crazy idea to develop a blockchain node in Swift instead.
Pick Rust. Rust can provide all what you need and has been a major language in blockchain/cryptocurrency industry. Swift is slower than Rust and does not have such support in the networking and domain field. Swift tooling is great only on macOS, therefore you are likely to have troubles on other platforms.
You can use swift of course. It’s more of a question of being performant.
You really want to try some basic operations and find what’s most performant for you.
Rust is wonderful for cloud applications requiring heavy concurrency, it has compile time checking for such things.
Go and C++ could be more performant in your case. Swift is really quite an obtuse language, with a lot of features, some which may complicate your implementation.
Also, you want to consider the market of developers who could help build it. If you use Go or C++ there is a larger collection of people who know the languages than there is with swift.
Hey guys, I learned the basics (OOP, data structures & some algorithms) with Python, but now I want to learn iOS development. I am considering to learn Swift, but I am afraid how the native mobile development will die out because of the cross-platform frameworks and reviews. My idea is to learn web development first and then learn React Native, and after all of that, finally Swift. What do you think about this roadmap? Should I just learn Swift first due to the pros of the native apps?
Native apps are not going to die. Especially not Swift because now Swift can be used to develop cross platform macOS and iOS apps due to the new macs having M1 chips.
I would suggest to bet more on Swift! I have developed act in React and Javascript in the past and played around with Swift a little... the performances of native code vs Javascript are way too slow compared to swift native app!
Now even more than ever M1 chip will give a boost, but if it gives a boost to JS it will give a boost also to native apps. I would seriously consider Swift more than Javascript, React or even Electron!
If asking about employment opportunities, native will never die out. There will always be opportunity for work in native mobile applications. There are also many advantages of using native over cross platform such as always having access to the latest APIs and developer libraries that may not be available to cross-platform without some native development involved or can wait until someone develops a bridge for you.
If you are asking about what you should develop with first? It really depends. React-Native is great for building proto-types or basic MVP application that doesn't require any of the latest and greatest features Apple has to offer at the moment. But if you're asking what to learn? I would say native will always give you a larger advantage as it will give you a good foundation in mobile development and provide you access to the latest native libraries. It is also a useful skill that can give you an edge in cross-platform mobile like react-native because you will most definitely encounter a situation where you will have to go down to the to native side to extend functionality or utilize APIs that are not yet out of the box.
The decision comes down to your goals and needs.
If you want to be able to create any kind of iOS app, simple or complex, learn Swift. It's indispensable if you're building specialised apps like video editing, augmented reality, machine learning or anything that uses iOS-specific APIs such as App Clips.
But if you just want to create apps that make HTTP requests and display static content such as text or basic video and music, React Native would do just fine, and you can publish the same code to Android. This is a no-brainer choice if you're on a low budget.
And if you know both, you can use both in the same app. You can add React Native screens or components inside a Swift app.
"Should I just learn Swift first due to the pros of the native apps?".
React Native builds Native Apps. Technologies like ionic
does NOT build native apps, but React Native does it.
Learning Swift seems to be a really bad idea from my point of view. Learning JavaScript is all what you need. Why? Because then Frontend, Backend, and Mobile Dev, is simple, because it's all JavaScript.
Mobile Native Development Apps will never die. Cross Plataform like React Native only exists to save time and costs for startups mainly, which is extraordinary, and indispensable often of course. But when the App get popular enough, it will probably will move to Native Development. Several improvements.
Less than 20% of the market is IOS, the rest is Android. Any developer must produce for Android and maybe support IOS. If you prototype on IOS you have to restart again for Android. React and JavaScript will run on IOS.
A developer and project manager from our team X says the following about our use of Rails at i22:
"We use Rails to build stable and flexible backend systems. Rails is extremely good for managing data structures and quickly setting up new systems. It is the perfect base for most use cases."
I asked the same Team X member why the team prefers to work with Ruby on Rails, rather than Python and Django:
"Because Python is a scripting language and from my point of view not suitable for building stable web services. Python is for me rather good for scripts and fast small tools. Not for stable business applications. And if I want it fast I prefer Go."
I've yet to see a non-native application that I felt performed as well and/or provided the same user experience with Cordova/PhoneGap/Xamarin. Frankly, at best they all seemed like underpowered web applications deployed to a sandbox that ran on a phone. They didn't feel "slick" or "mobile-first" and in some cases the performance was unacceptable. At previous companies, we built a few of these apps at the client's insistence, and in every case, they re-engaged us about 18 months later to re-write the app(s) natively.
We are doing some research on React Native and Flutter, but I am not yet convinced that they can provide the same level of experience and performance as native, though I am trying to keep an open mind.
We chose React Native over native Android and iOS development because of React Native's cross-platform capabilities. React Native has really matured over the years, developing a native feel, with simple and intuitive APIs. The community is also huge, filling in any gaps in the default APIs. These are also the reasons why we didn't choose other hybrid mobile tools. Largely, other hybrid mobile tools don't have the same mobile feel and close connection to the underlying mobile APIs.
At a larger scale, the control that native development offers beats React Native's simplicity. However, at this early stage, it's worth the trade-off. Maintaining two mobile teams and two mobile apps, as we iterate the product rapidly would not be practical. Plus, there is always the escape hatch of native modules if more control is needed.
As a startup, we need the maximum flexibility and the ability to reach our customers in a more suitable way. So a hybrid application approach is the best because it allows you to develop a cross-platform application in a unique codebase. The choice behind Ionic is Angular, I think that angular is the best framework to develop a complex application that needs a lot of service interaction, its modularity forces you (the developer) to write the code in the correct way, so it can be maintainable and reusable.
Expo was a tool Macombey really wanted to utilize from the beginning. I have been working with React Native since 2016 and originally I had to use simulators in Xcode, install pods on top of node packages, configure certificates, and more abundant objectives that take time away from actual development. As a development studio, we have to move quick and get projects to our clients and partners in a matter of months.
Expo made this easy for us. We now have a mobile app for clients to download and test their project on, there is no need to install pods or configure Xcode, and development is super fast and reliable now.
I was considering focusing on learning RoR and looking for a work that uses those techs.
After some investigation, I decided to stay with C# .NET:
It is more requested on job positions (7 to 1 in my personal searches average).
It's been around for longer.
it has better documentation and community.
One of Ruby advantages (its amazing community gems, that allows to quickly build parts of your systems by merely putting together third party components) gets quite complicated to use and maintain in huge applications, where building and reusing your own components may become a better approach.
Rail's front end support is starting to waver.
C# .NET code is far easier to understand, debug and maintain. Although certainly not easier to learn from scratch.
Though Rails has an excellent programming speed, C# tends to get the upper hand in long term projects.
I would avise to stick to rails when building small projects, and switching to C# for more long term ones.
Opinions are welcome!
We have a lot of experience in JavaScript, writing our services in NodeJS allows developers to transition to the back end without any friction, without having to learn a new language. There is also the option to write services in TypeScript, which adds an expressive type layer. The semi-shared ecosystem between front and back end is nice as well, though specifically NodeJS libraries sometimes suffer in quality, compared to other major languages.
As for why we didn't pick the other languages, most of it comes down to "personal preference" and historically grown code bases, but let's do some post-hoc deduction:
Go is a practical choice, reasonably easy to learn, but until we find performance issues with our NodeJS stack, there is simply no reason to switch. The benefits of using NodeJS so far outweigh those of picking Go. This might change in the future.
PHP is a language we're still using in big parts of our system, and are still sometimes writing new code in. Modern PHP has fixed some of its issues, and probably has the fastest development cycle time, but it suffers around modelling complex asynchronous tasks, and (on a personal note) lack of support for writing in a functional style.
We don't use Python, Elixir or Ruby, mostly because of personal preference and for historic reasons.
Rust, though I personally love and use it in my projects, would require us to specifically hire for that, as the learning curve is quite steep. Its web ecosystem is OK by now (see https://www.arewewebyet.org/), but in my opinion, it is still no where near that of the other web languages. In other words, we are not willing to pay the price for playing this innovation card.
Haskell, as with Rust, I personally adore, but is simply too esoteric for us. There are problem domains where it shines, ours is not one of them.
In 2015 as Xelex Digital was paving a new technology path, moving from ASP.NET web services and web applications, we knew that we wanted to move to a more modular decoupled base of applications centered around REST APIs.
To that end we spent several months studying API design patterns and decided to use our own adaptation of CRUD, specifically a SCRUD pattern that elevates query params to a more central role via the Search action.
Once we nailed down the API design pattern it was time to decide what language(s) our new APIs would be built upon. Our team has always been driven by the right tool for the job rather than what we know best. That said, in balancing practicality we chose to focus on 3 options that our team had deep experience with and knew the pros and cons of.
For us it came down to C#, JavaScript, and Ruby. At the time we owned our infrastructure, racks in cages, that were all loaded with Windows. We were also at a point that we were using that infrastructure to it's fullest and could not afford additional servers running Linux. That's a long way of saying we decided against Ruby as it doesn't play nice on Windows.
That left us with two options. We went a very unconventional route for deciding between the two. We built MVP APIs on both. The interfaces were identical and interchangeable. What we found was easily quantifiable differences.
We were able to iterate on our Node based APIs much more rapidly than we were our C# APIs. For us this was owed to the community coupled with the extremely dynamic nature of JS. There were tradeoffs we considered, latency was (acceptably) higher on requests to our Node APIs. No strong types to protect us from ourselves, but we've rarely found that to be an issue.
As such we decided to commit resources to our Node APIs and push it out as the core brain of our new system. We haven't looked back since. It has consistently met our needs, scaling with us, getting better with time as continually pour into and expand our capabilities.
1 code deploys for both: Android and iOS. There is a huge community behind React Native. And one of the best things is Expo. Expo uses React Native to make everything even more and more simple. Awesome technologies. Some other important thing is that while using React Native, you are reusing all JavaScript knowledge you have in your team. You can move easily a frontend dev to develop mobile applications.
A huge PRO of Expo, is that it includes a full building process. You run 1 line in the terminal, and 10 minutes after you have 2 builds done. Double check EAS Expo.
In December we successfully flipped around half a billion monthly API requests from our Ruby on Rails application to some new Python 3 applications. Our Head of Engineering has written a great article as to why we decided to transition from Ruby on Rails to Python 3! Read more about it in the link below.
Pros of Ruby
- Programme friendly607
- Quick to develop538
- Great community492
- Productivity469
- Simplicity432
- Open source274
- Meta-programming235
- Powerful208
- Blocks157
- Powerful one-liners140
- Flexible70
- Easy to learn59
- Easy to start52
- Maintainability42
- Lambdas38
- Procs31
- Fun to write21
- Diverse web frameworks19
- Reads like English14
- Makes me smarter and happier10
- Rails9
- Elegant syntax9
- Very Dynamic8
- Matz7
- Programmer happiness6
- Object Oriented5
- Elegant code4
- Friendly4
- Generally fun but makes you wanna cry sometimes4
- Fun and useful4
- There are so many ways to make it do what you want3
- Easy packaging and modules3
- Primitive types can be tampered with2
Pros of Swift
- Ios259
- Elegant180
- Not Objective-C126
- Backed by apple107
- Type inference93
- Generics61
- Playgrounds54
- Semicolon free49
- OSX38
- Tuples offer compound variables36
- Clean Syntax24
- Easy to learn24
- Open Source22
- Beautiful Code21
- Functional20
- Dynamic12
- Linux12
- Protocol-oriented programming11
- Promotes safe, readable code10
- No S-l-o-w JVM9
- Explicit optionals8
- Storyboard designer7
- Optionals6
- Type safety6
- Super addicting language, great people, open, elegant5
- Best UI concept5
- Its friendly4
- Highly Readable codes4
- Fail-safe4
- Powerful4
- Faster and looks better4
- Swift is faster than Objective-C4
- Feels like a better C++4
- Easy to learn and work3
- Much more fun3
- Protocol extensions3
- Native3
- Its fun and damn fast3
- Strong Type safety3
- Easy to Maintain3
- Protocol as type2
- All Cons C# and Java Swift Already has2
- Esay2
- MacOS2
- Type Safe2
- Protocol oriented programming2
- Can interface with C easily1
- Actually don't have to own a mac1
- Free from Memory Leak1
- Swift is easier to understand for non-iOS developers.1
- Numbers with underbar1
- Optional chain1
- Great for Multi-Threaded Programming1
- Runs Python 8 times faster1
- Objec1
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Cons of Ruby
- Memory hog7
- Really slow if you're not really careful7
- Nested Blocks can make code unreadable3
- Encouraging imperative programming2
- No type safety, so it requires copious testing1
- Ambiguous Syntax, such as function parentheses1
Cons of Swift
- Must own a mac6
- Memory leaks are not uncommon2
- Very irritatingly picky about things that’s1
- Complicated process for exporting modules1
- Its classes compile to roughly 300 lines of assembly1
- Is a lot more effort than lua to make simple functions1
- Overly complex options makes it easy to create bad code0