Hello all
I have decided that I will participate in an online coding contest.i just want to ask which programming language is appropriate or powerful for a programming contest?ruby or python?i want to participate with python or ruby as my primary language.i have a little exp. with python but don't like the whites pace rule.does ruby has it?I want a scripting language because of ease of developement and less worrying of syntax.

So,which one you reckon?python or ruby?

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Well, Python and Ruby are both programming languages, not scripting languages and regardless you do need to worry about syntax if you want it to work.

Just a word of advice, if you only have a little experience with Python but none with Ruby (suggested by your question whether or not Ruby requires whitespace) then may I suggest you build experience and practice before getting involved with a contest?

Anyway, to answer your original question, I like Python however it is all down to personal preference and what you're most comfortable with, and whether or not you are allowed to choose different languages in the contest.

don't like the whites pace rule.does ruby has it?

Ruby does not have significant indentation. However it does have a couple of instances where spaces between tokens matter (like a[b] meaning "access the bth element of the variable or nullary method a" while a [b] means call the method a with the array [b] as its argument).

I actually have experience with programming languages like c/c++ and m not a newbie.
I am actually having some trouble with the white spaces in python.but I will I on with it for a few days and then check out ruby...if I find ruby better,then I will certainly bring it up as my primary language....and hey,ruby and python are scripting languages.

Ruby and python are interpreted languages so it is obvious that is is scripting languages...

Actually Python can be interpreted and compiled, however just because it can or cannot be compiled doesn't define it as a programming language.

The official documentation not only claims that Python and Ruby are both programming languages, but they also contain many features that are unique to programming languages and therefore they should be called and classified as a programming language.

Oh dear, not this argument again :( It seems as if this argument flares up every three months or so, and frankly, it is purely a waste of effort.

Let's first define our terms: a programming language is a language is capable of describing a sequence of actions for a computer to take, either explicitly (as in procedural or OOP languages) or implicitly (as in functional or logic languages). A script is a program which is primarily used for controlling the invocation of othe rprograms. A scripting language is a programming language used primarily for writing scripts.

Note tha there are two crucial facts here: first, that scripting languages are programming languages, and second, that by this definition, Python and Ruby are not scripting languages. While they can be used for writing scripts, and often are, neither are used exclusively for scripting (even Perl, which is mostly used for scripting, is entirely a scripting language). This leaves the rather bogus term 'scripting language' for those languages which really are used exclusively for scripting, such as the various shell script languages, or Windows batch scripts.

commented: A Good Summary, and I am going to agree and step out of the discussion now. +5
commented: Well said. +5
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