Years ago I used to solve many mathematical problems in Ruby. Looking
backwards, I find difficult to explain my decision, because if I remember
correctly Ruby was slow compared with C++ or Perl, and since most of
the time I ended using a brute force approach to solve what my
imagination could not solve efficiently I often ended awaiting longer
times before obtaining my answers.
However, I can clearly remember that for the first time in my conscious programming life, I
was happy and I was enjoying my time with some programming language. So I didn't worry
too much about some additional time awaiting a stupid brute force
solution. I was solving mathematical puzzles for fun and with Ruby I
could quickly test some crazy ideas, leave the process running and go to do other things. Ruby
was powerful, concise, elegant, and more importantly it didn't force
over me its formatting policies or push me to do things in some way I
didn't like to. I had finally found a language where everything fitted
in place and seemed natural. I thought: this language must have been
created by someone who really likes having fun while programming.
And
indeed it was. Ruby was created by Yukihiro Matsumoto (aka Matz), who is one of my heroes actually. I found an interview he gave about Ruby and there he said something that really touched a fiber inside me, I have always used his
words as an inspiration:
Fun to use. Freedom to choose. This man taught me all.