Python’s Beards and Ruby’s ‘Cool’ Guys
I was having a chat on the MicroSoft Networks fancy comms protocol. Aka: MSN. Along came someone with an opinion. As is customary I shot it down with wild abandon!!
The quickie backstory:
- I suggested Python is better than Ruby.
- They argued using two example pictures – see below.
Rubyists

I Said:
The Ruby pic: The guy on the right has his eyebrow raised as if to say: “I’m fucking amazing”. The rest of them are all geeks who are using Ruby as their way to be cool in a world that rejected them at high school age for being geeks. Little do they realise (maybe deep down they do) but the only people who may think they’re cool is a small fringe group of other Ruby-ists and beginner coders. The other Ruby-ists will be consumed by an undertone of competitiveness. The Python coders will think they’re rubbish fanboys. The hot girl who rejected them at high school will think they’re just like any other geek.
Pythonistas

I Said:
The good thing about the Python coders is they’re not bothered. They’re just not even trying. They’re so past giving a shit about being cool that they’ve all grown ugly facial hair.
This piercing psychological insight into the programmers of Python and Ruby is just the tip of the iceberg. For $200 I’ll furnish you with a graph showing my facts in a nice way that will go well in a professional report.
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- Ruby and Python Compared
- Switching From Rails to Django: Why?
- Programming Python puts Ruby to Shame
- The Journey from Python to Ruby Pt. 1

Leah Culver is a Python programmer. How does she fit in with the beard thing?
The sad thing is, somewhere, some ruby developer will actually be offended by this. =)
- Past the Point of Giving a Sh*t about Flamewar Bait
@Bearded Rubyist – I demand you shave your beard. You’re totally not cool.
I think there was some correlation between “beards” and survival of projects. Rumor has it, that Matz grew a beard….
As a Python developer, it’s scary how just a few minutes prior to reading “not shaving” lost out in the mental debate over whether to shave today. In fairness, I did shave yesterday so unless I’m Steve Carell (http://tinyurl.com/l5fxtf) then I should still be able to infiltrate the ranks of the rubyists until tomorrow.
Jason Arnold: Dunno. Does Leah shave her beard?
As a Python/Perl guy, I have a beard because I’m too busy writing code to shave. The Ruby guys look so “cool” because they have time to primp and worry about fashion while the interpreter is busy being 300x as slow as anything else on the planet.
@Larry von Matz – ding ding ding! We have a winner. Bearded Python/Pearl guy takes the bait.
You know what I do while I wait for my ruby interpreter?
Shave my balls instead. Chicks dig it, man.
The facial hairs are not ugly. They make us look intellectual
The facial hair means that they are too chicken to cut it every day.
BECAUSE THEY ARE LAZY.
I think the Ruby folks had beards too before Rails put them in the spotlight.
The one true way == grow a beard?
Oh why did I shave my damned beard.
@Jason Arnold, @Guido von Guido, ask her boyfriend. :p
don’t justify by beard.Matz, the author of Ruby has a beard!!!!
are the rubyists are sitting infront of an example of ruby code.
@Steven – nope looks like Perl to me.
@mark One man’s laziness is another man’s optimization.
Where does PHP stand ?
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