Python vs Ruby
Jeremy Zawodny: Should I Learn Python or Ruby next?
When I learned Python, my use of Perl dropped dramatically, but did not quite go away. Basically, if it could fit on a page, I would tend to write it in Perl; for everything else, I would use Python. Needless to say, one can do a lot in one page of Perl.
Since I learned Ruby, my usage of Perl for new stuff has essentially been eliminated.
Despite loving blocks, regular expressions as first class objects, a syntax which involves less parenthesis, and a huge number of small but important aspects of the library (e.g., join is a method on Array vs String, sort returns the value, so it can be used in expressions such as for i in dict.keys.sort, etc), Ruby hasn’t quite displaced Python completely for me. The difference isn’t the language, but the libraries. Outside of Weirich and DHH, the Ruby libraries are at best uneven. This even includes libraries which are included with the language. Many seem to be baubles that were created by authors without an attention to detail, and subsequently abandoned. Of particular issue to both Tim and myself is the state of the XML libraries. By contrast, the Python libraries tend to be pretty good (notable exception: HTTP, use Joe’s instead).
Perl 6 could very well bring me back.