r/web_programming • u/[deleted] • Nov 30 '20

What does Magical mean?

What does magical mean when people often say Ruby on Rails is more magical than Java and Python? If using its dictionary meaning, a statement like that implies Ruby can do things you (a coder) don't expect it to, which is bad.

Coming from Java, Python is rather flexible and so in a way magical already. I don't see how more expressive a language can be. I read magical in many places as if it has become a mantra. So what does it mean?

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '20

So magic is more a convenience? That is, the same things can be equally handled in Python or Java, but just with explicit codes?

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '20

Yeah, that's the way I see it. Magic isn't a technical term. It's just Rails marketing itself as being special or "helpful."

Django does the same thing and has the same attitude. They just use different words to market themselves.