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93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

mcmillen.dev

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Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#52

Can we talk about the original tweet some? How DO we let kids be kids in this age where all the other kids wanna do is be on YouTube and TikTok?

Our approach has been to limit screen time. Definition of 'being kids' is also up to interpretation I think; no judging.

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, perhaps I should've said SetImmutableVariable? Are consts not allowed to be set at runtime?

It sounds like the confusion might be in declaration vs. initialization, which for language-supported consts of course have to happen at the same time. Retrofitting the concept into a language without native support for immutable bindings, you'd of course need some kind of setter on whatever object or similar you're using to encapsulate the binding and ensure it never does actually change.

I'm combining my lament about lack of "you are using a variable you didn't declare yet" error in PHP and my newly arrived at understanding of the benefits of immutable variables, and then adding to the confusion by using the "constant/const" term, which typically means "set at compile time"

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#54
post #23

Can we talk about the original tweet some? How DO we let kids be kids in this age where all the other kids wanna do is be on YouTube and TikTok?

Why are TikTok and YouTube excluded from "kids being kids" activities? If that's what all the kids are doing then it seems that's what a kids activity has become. I used to play with neighborhood kids quite a bit when I was younger. Now my nephew plays Fortnite almost every day with 5ish different friends. He gets way more experience socializing than I ever did. Ultimately (I think) kids need to learn to socialize wi…

I don't know about TikTok well enough but as far as YouTube goes ... the race for eyeballs, views, even money and etc. produces some pretty skewed results / activity and carries a lot of negatives with the drive to just pump out continuous content, produce youtube drama, etc. And now all that content is out there with all the mistakes a kid will make, for the world to see, possibly forever.

Granted if a kid were to just upload fun videos... have comments off ... not interact with the community, then maybe they'd be ok? But I think all of that is not super likely as my son's friends want to be youtube stars.

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#55
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

use strict; has basically eliminated typos or variable-related errors for me. combined with -T, it's given me a lot of peace of mind, which I miss when using PHP. I'm seriously contemplating writing my own SetConst and GetConst functions. (Lately I've been finding a lot of sense in immutable variables.)

For Perl use const name => value; Though ... I'm not sure why you'd need a "set" constant, as constants should be immutable, and set once ...

Nitpick:

   use constant name => value;
Albeit `Const::Fast` might be considered preferable for several reasons (deeply readonly structures, variables which you can interpolate rather than barewords, etc).

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#56
post #23

Can we talk about the original tweet some? How DO we let kids be kids in this age where all the other kids wanna do is be on YouTube and TikTok?

Why are TikTok and YouTube excluded from "kids being kids" activities? If that's what all the kids are doing then it seems that's what a kids activity has become. I used to play with neighborhood kids quite a bit when I was younger. Now my nephew plays Fortnite almost every day with 5ish different friends. He gets way more experience socializing than I ever did. Ultimately (I think) kids need to learn to socialize wi…

> Why are TikTok and YouTube excluded from "kids being kids" activities?

Poeple in general are extremely bad at generalizing situations to match their own experiences. People get old, see younger people playing differently (new toy, new technology, new societal framework), and fail to notice that the new kind of play is still mostly the same module/class of play they had, just with a different coat of paint.

E.G. In the 80s' we used to play with k7 recorders, recording singing, pretend news casts and comedy shows. Now kids are doing youtube and tiktok, and that is exactly the same module of play, it is not some brand new thing.

Having said that, I'd like to point out that, although for the kid it is basically the same kind of play, the fact that is more public (k7 had a limited reach, just neighborhood friends, but the internet has unlimited reach) means bigger stakes, so parents should be more vigilant, it is even more crucial now that parents get involved in the kids activities to keep an eye out.

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#57
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sorry the code you produced made you so unhappy EDIT: verb tense changed

Don't take attacks on a tool you like as an attack on you. This is rarely ever the intention, and I'm 100% certain wasn't the intention of the poster here. The tools you use shouldn't be your identity. Chill.

One person’s tool is another person’s livelihood, the corner stone of their professional experience, and the basis by which other people will (apparently) judge their technical expertise

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#58

Can we talk about the original tweet some? How DO we let kids be kids in this age where all the other kids wanna do is be on YouTube and TikTok?

It's just silly fear of change. Why is programming bad but reading books is good? Programming is fun!

Re: 93% of Paint Splatters Are Valid Perl Programs (2019)

#59

That's a fun read. I once wrote an entire CMS in Perl. I still wake up, screaming, sometimes. [UPDATE] It appears as if my flippant remark caused upset. I am sincerely sorry that this was the case. No offense was meant. @peteretep, you have my sincere apology. It was a flippant remark. At the time I wrote it (mid-1990s), Perl was the best way to write portable server-side code. I took the time to learn it, and got fa…

I’m sorry the code you produced made you so unhappy EDIT: verb tense changed

This made me laugh more than it should have.
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