It isn't so much about language features, as both languages are roughly equivalent in that sense.
It is about how the language makes you feel. If you're going to be spending >5 hours a day writing in some language, it is of great importance how that language makes you feel when you write it. Simply said, writing Ruby makes me happier than I've ever been while writing code.
Python is to German as Ruby is to French. You can get roughly the same message across equally well in both languages, but French just sounds so much better.
I'll agree that it's about how it makes you feel, but Ruby (+ Rails) just made me feel sloppy, while Python (+ Pylons or Django) felt crisp & productive.
Really, I'd say to try both languages and pick whichever one you like best. They're very similar in what they let you accomplish, but have very different feel. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another.
Two counter words: Ariane, Nuclear (as in 80%+ national electricity)... not too shabby as far as engineering goes... I would add Airbus, LHC, etc... but two are enough.
yeah, as an engineer working in France, I can honestly say that their engineers are pretty good. The problem is that there's another grand école that specialises in producing bureaucrats (seriously!). And for whatever perverse accident of history, they are considered to be la crème de la France, so they call the shots in most large businesses. They consider themselves to be better than lowly engineers, so don't deign to listen to any suggestions about what is technically possible or not.
Indeed. Whenever I'm waiting for Ruby to finish something that Python would have done faster, I like to imagine that it's taking a long lunch in a Parisian cafe, smoking clove cigarettes and picking up women.
It is about how the language makes you feel. If you're going to be spending >5 hours a day writing in some language, it is of great importance how that language makes you feel when you write it. Simply said, writing Ruby makes me happier than I've ever been while writing code.
Python is to German as Ruby is to French. You can get roughly the same message across equally well in both languages, but French just sounds so much better.