Which is better Ruby or Python? I’ve used both Ruby and Python in my work — and while they’re similar, they’re also different in some critical ways. It’s a popular question, but an important one, so let me example the difference between Ruby and Python.

So…How are they different?

The Language:

The Ruby on Rails web framework is built using the Ruby programming language while the Django web framework is built using the Python programming language.

This is where many of the differences lay. The two languages are visually similar but are worlds apart in their approaches to solving problems.

Ruby is designed to be infinitely flexible and empowering for programmers. It allows Ruby on Rails to do lots of little tricks to make an elegant web framework. This can feel even magical at times, but the flexibility can also cause some problems. For example, the same magic that makes Ruby work when you don’t expect it to can also make it very hard to track down bugs, resulting in hours of combing through code.

Python takes a more direct approach to programming. Its primary goal is to make everything visible to the programmer. This sacrifices some of the elegance that Ruby has but gives Python a big advantage when it comes to learning to code and debugging problems efficiently.

Web Frameworks

Ruby and Python are scripting languages. Each framework provides you all the concepts from traditional MVC frameworks like models, views, controllers, and database migrations.

Each framework has differences in how you implement these features, but at the core, they are very similar. Python and Ruby also have many libraries you can use to add features to your web applications as well. Ruby has a repository called Rubygems, and Python has a repository called the Package Index.

Ultimately, there is no winner in sight for the foreseeable future. Each language is in some way in possession of their own unique qualities, strengths and weaknesses, so to a curious and ambitious coding mind, each language certainly brings something to the table.