Ruby Alternatives

The story for the future of parallelism in Ruby is looking pretty bleak. Matz just said at Euruko that it will be a while (years) before the notorious Global Interpreter Lock is gone.

So I've been on a journey to find a more modern replacement that gives me the same joy that I feel when I write Ruby. It turns out that with modern programming languages, it's actually not that hard to learn a new technology.

I've found some great candidates in Go, Elixir and a newcomer Crystal. I'll dig in and show you some code and you can decide if maybe, you too, want to enter Parallel World with me!

Transcript

1. Ru b y A l t e r n at i v e s
2. M o o re ’s L a w
3. E v e r y t w o y e a r s
4. E v e r y t w o y e a r s 2 t i m e s f a s t e r
6. W h a ?
10. T h e # $ @ & % * ! G I L
11. – M AT Z , T H I S M O R N I N G “Thread is too hard”
12. We ’ re l i v i n g i n a p o s t M o o re w o r l d
13. – M AT Z , T H I S M O R N I N G “[Ruby 3 will be finished] hopefully within this decade”
14. Hey Aaron! What did you think of Matz’ keynote?
15. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ I’M SWITCHING TO ELIXIR!!!!
17. – S E R D A R D O G R U Y O L “Nobody should only learn one programming language”
18. Go
19. Go
20. Go
21. W h i r l w i n d To u r J u s t t o s h ow t h e s e l a n g u a g e s a re n ’ t s c a r y
22. @mraaroncruz
23. @mraaroncruz ROSSConf
24. @mraaroncruz I help startups get and keep users ROSSConf
25. @mraaroncruz ROSSConf Indian Food Chef I help startups get and keep users
26. G o l a n g
27. (Did not sponsor this slide)
28. Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e
29. Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e • developer productivity
30. • developer productivity • header files are inefficient Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e
31. • developer productivity • header files are inefficient • classic type systems (C++, Java) are cumbersome and pushing people toward dynamic languages Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e
32. • developer productivity • header files are inefficient • classic type systems (C++, Java) are cumbersome and pushing people toward dynamic languages • garbage collection not supported by most systems languages Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e
33. • developer productivity • header files are inefficient • classic type systems (C++, Java) are cumbersome and pushing people toward dynamic languages • garbage collection not supported by most systems languages • multicore computers on the rise Pro b l e m s A t G o o g l e
34. Fe at u re s O f G o
35. Fe at u re s O f G o • incredibly fast compilation
36. Fe at u re s O f G o • incredibly fast compilation • dependency model simplified
37. Fe at u re s O f G o • incredibly fast compilation • dependency model simplified • light weight static type system
38. Fe at u re s O f G o • incredibly fast compilation • dependency model simplified • light weight static type system • garbage collector
39. Fe at u re s O f G o • incredibly fast compilation • dependency model simplified • light weight static type system • garbage collector • multicore first
40. G o a n d O O P
41. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) G o a n d O O P
42. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) • this/self from first argument G o a n d O O P
43. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) • this/self from first argument • constructor G o a n d O O P
44. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) • this/self from first argument • constructor • methods G o a n d O O P
45. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) • this/self from first argument • constructor • methods • mixins G o a n d O O P
46. • encapsulation (lower/uppercase) • this/self from first argument • constructor • methods • mixins • interfaces G o a n d O O P
47. S t r u c t s a n d M e t h o d s
48. type Rubyist struct { Name string FavoriteGems []string }
49. func (r Rubyist) TellMeAboutYourself() { fmt.Printf("Hi. My name is %s and I love %s!\n", r.Name, strings.Join(r.FavoriteGems, ", ")) }
50. func (r Rubyist) TellMeAboutYourself() { fmt.Printf("Hi. My name is %s and I love %s!\n", r.Name, strings.Join(r.FavoriteGems, ", ")) }
51. func (r Rubyist) TellMeAboutYourself() { fmt.Printf("Hi. My name is %s and I love %s!\n", r.Name, strings.Join(r.FavoriteGems, ", ")) }
52. func (r Rubyist) TellMeAboutYourself() { fmt.Printf("Hi. My name is %s and I love %s!\n", r.Name, strings.Join(r.FavoriteGems, ", ")) }
53. func (r Rubyist) TellMeAboutYourself() { fmt.Printf("Hi. My name is %s and I love %s!\n", r.Name, strings.Join(r.FavoriteGems, ", ")) }
54. func main() { gems := []string{"pry", "faraday", "sequel"} aaron := Rubyist{Name: "Aaron", FavoriteGems: gems} aaron.TellMeAboutYourself() }
55. G o ’s Co n c u r re n c y Patt e r n s
56. G o ’s Co n c u r re n c y Patt e r n s • goroutines
57. G o ’s Co n c u r re n c y Patt e r n s • goroutines • channels
58. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
59. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
60. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
61. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
62. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
63. func main() { messages := make(chan string) go func() { time.Sleep(time.Second * 1) messages <- "ping" }() fmt.Println("Blocking on channel") msg := <-messages fmt.Println(msg) }
64. P r a c t i c a l U s e C a s e
65. P r a c t i c a l U s e C a s e S i d e k i q w o r k e r s
67. func transcode(message *workers.Msg) { // you have access to // create a map of the args from the worker call payload := message.Args().Map() // Transcode it with your transcode package transcoder.Transcode(payload["path"].(string)) }
68. func sendMail(message *workers.Msg) { payload := message.Args().Map() mailerType := payload["mailer"].(string) // Factory function // Infers type and returns interface: Send(string) client := mailer.NewMailer(mailerType) client.Send(payload["email_address"].(string)) }
69. func main() { workers.Configure(map[string]string{ // location of redis instance "server": "localhost:6379", // instance of the database "database": "0", // number of connections to keep open with redis "pool": "30", // unique process id for this instance of workers // (for proper recovery of inprogress jobs on crash) "process": "1", }) 
 //… continued in next slide }
70. func main() { // pull messages from "sendMail" with concurrency of 10 workers.Process("emails", sendMail, 10) // pull messages from "transcode" with concurrency of 20 workers.Process("transcode", transcode, 20) // stats will be available at http://localhost:8080/stats go workers.StatsServer(8080) // Blocks until process is told to exit via unix signal workers.Run() }
71. func main() { // pull messages from "sendMail" with concurrency of 10 workers.Process("emails", sendMail, 10) // pull messages from "transcode" with concurrency of 20 workers.Process("transcode", transcode, 20) // stats will be available at http://localhost:8080/stats go workers.StatsServer(8080) // Blocks until process is told to exit via unix signal workers.Run() }
72. func main() { // pull messages from "sendMail" with concurrency of 10 workers.Process("emails", sendMail, 10) // pull messages from "transcode" with concurrency of 20 workers.Process("transcode", transcode, 20) // stats will be available at http://localhost:8080/stats go workers.StatsServer(8080) // Blocks until process is told to exit via unix signal workers.Run() }
73. func main() { // pull messages from "sendMail" with concurrency of 10 workers.Process("emails", sendMail, 10) // pull messages from "transcode" with concurrency of 20 workers.Process("transcode", transcode, 20) // stats will be available at http://localhost:8080/stats go workers.StatsServer(8080) // Blocks until process is told to exit via unix signal workers.Run() }
74. func main() { // pull messages from "sendMail" with concurrency of 10 workers.Process("emails", sendMail, 10) // pull messages from "transcode" with concurrency of 20 workers.Process("transcode", transcode, 20) // stats will be available at http://localhost:8080/stats go workers.StatsServer(8080) // Blocks until process is told to exit via unix signal workers.Run() }
75. I G o
76. I G o
82. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s
83. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional
84. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front
85. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree)
86. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree) • REPL
87. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree) • REPL • great standard library
88. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree) • REPL • great standard library • metaprogramming
89. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree) • REPL • great standard library • metaprogramming • macros
90. E l i x i r ’s Fe at u re s • functional • concurrency up front • fault tolerant (supervisor tree) • REPL • great standard library • metaprogramming • macros • tooling
91. f u n c t i o n a l i m m u t a b l e d a t a
92. – M AT Z , T H I S M O R N I N G “Shared state is the source of all evil!”
93. c o n c u r re n c y f i r s t a c t o r p a t t e r n
94. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
96. f a u l t t o l e r a n t s u p e r v i s o r t re e
97. M o d u l e s
98. defmodule SumsTheThings do def sum(a, b) do do_sum(a, b) end defp do_sum(a, b) do a + b end end SumsTheThings.sum(1, 2) #=> 3
99. defmodule User do defstruct username: nil, email: nil, login_attempts: 0 end aaron = %User{ username: “pferdefleisch", email: "aaron@aaroncruz.com" }
100. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
101. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
102. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
103. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
104. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
105. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
106. defmodule Shape do def area({:rectangle, w, h}) do w * h end def area({:circle, r}) do :math.pi * r * r end end Shape.area({:rectangle, 2, 3}) #=> 6 Shape.area({:circle, 3}) #=> 28.25999999999999801048 Shape.area({:circle, 3, 2}) #=> no function clause matching in Shape.area/1 # examples adopted from learnxinyminutes.com
108. f a s t c o n c u r re n t b e a u t i f u l re l i a b l e
109. T h e R o u t e r
110. defmodule HelloPhoenix.Router do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_flash plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloPhoenix do pipe_through :browser # Use the default browser stack get "/", PageController, :index end # Other scopes may use custom stacks. # scope "/api", HelloPhoenix do # pipe_through :api # end end
111. defmodule HelloPhoenix.Router do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_flash plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloPhoenix do pipe_through :browser # Use the default browser stack get "/", PageController, :index end # Other scopes may use custom stacks. # scope "/api", HelloPhoenix do # pipe_through :api # end end
112. defmodule HelloPhoenix.Router do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_flash plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloPhoenix do pipe_through :browser # Use the default browser stack get "/", PageController, :index end # Other scopes may use custom stacks. # scope "/api", HelloPhoenix do # pipe_through :api # end end
113. defmodule HelloPhoenix.Router do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_flash plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloPhoenix do pipe_through :browser # Use the default browser stack get "/", PageController, :index end # Other scopes may use custom stacks. # scope "/api", HelloPhoenix do # pipe_through :api # end end
114. defmodule HelloPhoenix.Router do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_flash plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloPhoenix do pipe_through :browser # Use the default browser stack get "/", PageController, :index end # Other scopes may use custom stacks. # scope "/api", HelloPhoenix do # pipe_through :api # end end
115. T h e C o n t ro l l e r
116. defmodule HelloPhoenix.PageController do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :controller def index(conn, _params) do render conn, "index.html" end end
117. defmodule HelloPhoenix.UsersController do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :controller def show(conn, %{"product_id" => product_id}) do product = Repo.get(Product, product_id) render conn, "show.html", product: product end end
118. defmodule HelloPhoenix.UsersController do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :controller def show(conn, %{"product_id" => product_id}) do product = Repo.get(Product, product_id) render conn, "show.html", product: product end end
119. defmodule HelloPhoenix.UsersController do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :controller def show(conn, %{"product_id" => product_id}) do product = Repo.get(Product, product_id) render conn, "show.html", product: product end end
120. defmodule HelloPhoenix.UsersController do use HelloPhoenix.Web, :controller def show(conn, %{"product_id" => product_id}) do product = Repo.get(Product, product_id) render conn, "show.html", product: product end end
121. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r
122. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r • concurrency model
123. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r • concurrency model • text processing
124. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r • concurrency model • text processing • metaprogramming
125. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r • concurrency model • text processing • metaprogramming • error handling
126. S t u ff I D i d n ’ t H a v e Ti m e Fo r • concurrency model • text processing • metaprogramming • error handling • macros
129. S o m e Pro b l e m s W i t h Ru b y
130. S o m e Pro b l e m s W i t h Ru b y • performance
131. S o m e Pro b l e m s W i t h Ru b y • performance • most of errors happen at runtime
132. S o m e Pro b l e m s W i t h Ru b y • performance • most of errors happen at runtime • large memory footprint
133. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s
134. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s • Have the same syntax as Ruby, or at least as similar as possible.
135. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s • Have the same syntax as Ruby, or at least as similar as possible. • Never have to specify the type of a variable or method argument.
136. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s • Have the same syntax as Ruby, or at least as similar as possible. • Never have to specify the type of a variable or method argument. • Be able to call C code by writing bindings to it in Crystal.
137. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s • Have the same syntax as Ruby, or at least as similar as possible. • Never have to specify the type of a variable or method argument. • Be able to call C code by writing bindings to it in Crystal. • Have compile-time evaluation and generation of code, to avoid boilerplate code.
138. C r y s t a l ’s G o a l s • Have the same syntax as Ruby, or at least as similar as possible. • Never have to specify the type of a variable or method argument. • Be able to call C code by writing bindings to it in Crystal. • Have compile-time evaluation and generation of code, to avoid boilerplate code. • Compile to efficient native code.
139. S o m e O f C r y s t a l ’s Fe at u re s
140. S o m e O f C r y s t a l ’s Fe at u re s • method overloading
141. S o m e O f C r y s t a l ’s Fe at u re s • method overloading • concurrency via channels and spawn
142. S o m e O f C r y s t a l ’s Fe at u re s • method overloading • concurrency via channels and spawn • static typing with type inference
143. S o m e O f C r y s t a l ’s Fe at u re s • method overloading • concurrency via channels and spawn • static typing with type inference • FFI-like simple C bindings
144. class User def initialize(name) @name = name end def say_my_name puts "My name is #{@name}" end end user = User.new("Aaron") user.say_my_name
146. K e m a l
147. require "kemal" messages = [] of String sockets = [] of HTTP::WebSocket public_folder "src/assets" get "/" do render "src/views/index.ecr" end ws "/" do |socket| sockets.push socket socket.on_message do |message| messages.push message sockets.each do |a_socket| a_socket.send messages.to_json end end end
149. So Easy With Crystal :+1:
151. M D T C A S W D T C
152. M D T C A S W D T C
153. I R u b y
154. I R u b y
155. exercism.io
156. T h a n k Yo u b i t . l y / r u b y - a l t e r n a t i v e s @mraaroncruz S l i d e s a n d re s o u rc e s a t :