A domain specific language (DSL) is often nothing more than a clever API. But in many cases, a DSL redefines how a programmer thinks about a program. That is the goal in the Ruleby project. Ruleby is a rule engine written entirely in Ruby. As such, it supports a DSL that is based on the Ruby language. This DSL gives programmers the ability to think about “what” a program is going to do, rather than “how” to it is going to do it.

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Good programming depends on selecting the right tool for the job. In most cases imperative languages like Ruby, Java and C++ are good solutions. But they are not perfect. This article will present some of these cases and introduce a new tool that improves one imperative language: Ruby.

Lessons from Dijkstra

Imperative programming often results in complex code with a myriad of state transitions and interdependencies. Edgar Dijkstra noted that this can lead to programmers relying on the execution of a program in order to understand it. Debuggers are a nice tool, but it’s unfortunate t…

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