> It uses python instead of ruby, which to many sysadmins & devops engineers used to bash scripting is generally more readable than ruby code.
I disagree. If anything, Ruby is closer to Bash (in a good way, mind you) whereas Python's various syntax choices (white-space sensitivity, parens for function calls, some things only available as imported modules, etc.) makes it more different.
Consider bash:
if [ `which foo` == "/usr/bin/foo" ]; then
do_stuff
fi
compared to Ruby:
if `which foo`.strip == "/usr/bin/foo"
do_stuff
end
compared to Python:
import os
if os.popen("which foo").read().strip() == "/usr/bin/foo":
do_stuff()
Also, I would be careful about making generalizations without the data to back it up. "Many sysadmins & devops prefer..." is what Wikipedia editors would call weasel words.
I have only anecdotal evidence myself; I personally used to be a Python guy but now prefer Ruby; and some time ago my company hired a sysadmin/devops guy who came from Python, but grew to prefer Ruby once he started to learn it while working for us.
Considering that both Puppet and Chef are written in (almost entirely) Ruby, I would say that the sysadmin/devops field is currently leaning more strongly toward Ruby than Python. Although I'm sure bash dominates both.
Don't get me wrong, in terms of productivity and so forth, Python and Ruby are entirely on an equal footing.
I generally agree with your response. My only slight irritation is with how you wrote out the Python code. It looks a bit...uglier? and more verbose than it needs to be, especially compared to the others. This looks better to me:
from commands import getoutput
if getoutput('which bash') == '/bin/bash':
do_stuff()
Although if your goal is to determine if e.g. bash is located in /bin, then I would do:
bash:
if [ -e '/bin/bash' ];
then
do_stuff
fi
(I don't know Ruby.)
Python:
import os.path
if os.path.exists('/bin/bash'):
do_stuff()
The point was definitely not the logic of the examples! Rather to show three core similarities/differences:
* Ruby has bashisms like `foo`; Python requires a function call.
* Ruby has a nesting syntax similar to bash with if/end; Python is whitespace-sensitive.
* Ruby has method calls without parentheses, similar to bash commands, whereas Python requires them.
> Although if your goal is to determine if e.g. bash is located in /bin,
Actually, that was not the goal at all. The goal (which, again, is irrelevant to my point) was to determine if the PATH-resolved executable binary "foo" was in a specific location. Rest assured that I would not use "which" in a real-life app. :-)
(Thanks for commands.getoutput(), my Python is rusty.)
I disagree. If anything, Ruby is closer to Bash (in a good way, mind you) whereas Python's various syntax choices (white-space sensitivity, parens for function calls, some things only available as imported modules, etc.) makes it more different.
Consider bash:
compared to Ruby: compared to Python: Also, I would be careful about making generalizations without the data to back it up. "Many sysadmins & devops prefer..." is what Wikipedia editors would call weasel words.I have only anecdotal evidence myself; I personally used to be a Python guy but now prefer Ruby; and some time ago my company hired a sysadmin/devops guy who came from Python, but grew to prefer Ruby once he started to learn it while working for us.
Considering that both Puppet and Chef are written in (almost entirely) Ruby, I would say that the sysadmin/devops field is currently leaning more strongly toward Ruby than Python. Although I'm sure bash dominates both.
Don't get me wrong, in terms of productivity and so forth, Python and Ruby are entirely on an equal footing.