Juanjo Bazán @xuanxu

Ruby & Science

Ruby & Science?

Ruby & Science?FACT:

RUBY IS NOT WIDELY USED IN RESEARCH PROJECTS

Ruby ∩ Science ≃ ∅ ?

Why?not suitable for scientific uses?

Can Ruby fill the needs of scientists?

What people in academia need?

Research nowadays:Do

somethingCollect

data

Manipulatedata

Interpret results

FACT:

It doesn’t matter the scientific discipline,

FACT:

It doesn’t matter the scientific discipline,

It doesn’t matter the research field,

FACT:

It doesn’t matter the scientific discipline,

it doesn’t matter the research field,

(almost) every research project needs code.

enter Ruby

RubySlow

RubySlow

Lack of scientific libraries

RubySlow

Lack of scientific libraries

Small academic user base

RubySlow

Lack of scientific libraries

=> Not suitable for science?

Small academic user base

core research, simulations, modeling, calculations ... R, automatization tasks, graphs, formatting data ...

Research Project’s codeWHAT?

Wide spectrum of very different tasks

Research Project’s codeWHAT?

Speed is not a factor

Not programmers

Research Project’s codeWHO?

Experienced enough to tweak an existent solution

Help wanted

What help are they getting?

PythonSciPy, NumPy

JavaLots of libraries, easy to find

ExcelReally!

How can we help?

Ruby

Ruby

General purpose lang

Increase developer happiness

Powerful & beautiful syntax

Ruby Researcher

General purpose lang

Increase developer happiness

Powerful & beautiful syntax

Not programmers

Experience tweaking existent solutions

Wide range of different code tasks

RubySlow

Lack of scientific libraries

Small academic user base

Ruby

Lack of scientific libraries

Small academic user base

Slow Speed not a factor

RubySlow

Lack of scientific libraries

Small academic user base

Speed not a factor

Let’s push here!

SciRuby

Goal: SciPy/NumPy for Ruby: SciRuby/NMatrix

pre-alpha/alpha state

Active development

SciRuby.com github.com/SciRuby/sciruby

Help wanted

Let’s push Ruby into Academia

Goals:

- Make Ruby known to/used by researchers

- Create an ecosystem of scientific ruby libs

Let’s push Ruby into Academia

Goals:

- Create an ecosystem of scientific ruby libs

- Make Ruby known to/used by researchers

Let’s participate

Direct action

Direct action

1. Choose a discipline you like

Direct action

1. Choose a discipline you like

2. Find your closest university department

Direct action

1. Choose a discipline you like

2. Find your closest university department

3. Offer help & code

Why?

What’s in it for you?

Why?

More Ruby uses => Good for Rubysts & Ruby

Why?

OpenSource: Same motivations

Why?

Helping Science

Why?

Doing Science

Why?

OS rewards are good, helping science rewards are great

Why?

Learning about interesting issues & problems

Why?

Easyresult/effort

Why?

Ruby & Science communities

Sharing information is the norm

Openness is a value

Reputation based systems

Members are welcoming and willing to help

Can we make Ruby the programming language of

Science?

Probably No

Maybe?

Can we make Ruby the programming language of

Science?

Can we make Ruby the programming language of

Science?Probably No

Maybe?Who cares?

Let’s make Ruby the favorite

programming language of scientists!

Thank you!Danke!

Juanjo Bazán @xuanxu

Questions?

Juanjo Bazán @xuanxu hello@juanjobazan.com

photo credits:http://www.flickr.com/photos/aai/6936657289http://www.flickr.com/photos/3dking/148507938/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/morton1905/8638721846http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanegorski/2449377038http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/5865762878