If you’re comparing it to C, or even other languages like Go or Elixir, Ruby is pretty clunky no matter what. However, as far as really effective API string manipulation songs and dances, it really can’t be beat in terms of code elegance. I keep insisting on using the right tool for the job, and if it’s JSON sperging then the buck stops at Ruby.
But again, if you have to do any real number crunching, just skip all of these scripting languages outright. Skip Ruby, Python, JavaScript, Lua, fuck all of that