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Perl 5.17.6 is now available

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Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#21

Post by scott_s »

new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

I think that learning a scripting language is critical, but which scripting language is not. I used Perl for a while, then picked up Python, and I just adore Python. But pick one of Perl, Python, Ruby (or even Bash), and you're in good shape.

So, my actual advice is take a look at Perl, Python and Ruby, see which one excites you more, and commit to learning it for a while.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#22

Post by emeraldd »

new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

If you play around on *nix machines you'll want to know perl, at least how to read it and find translations for the things you can't read. You'll find it all over the place . . . http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/lisp.jpg

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#23

Post by pyre »

jnazario wrote: post #18
new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

i'll wade in. note that i'm bigoted against perl, i'll say so clearly up front. perl is better than shell scripting at automation, this much is true. perl has a strong use case there. had, i'll argue. perl's idioms and structure promotes wonky, hard to read and hard to maintain code. it's true. get even the most die hard perl fan a beer or two and they'll wind up admitting it, sheepishly and quietly. but yeah, perl t…

  > "don't use perl, it promotes brain rot"

  > and no, i wont revisit my thinking.
"I don't think this is the tool for the job, THEREFORE IT ROTS YOUR BRAIN! If you try to talk to me about that, I will chant, "I'M NOT LISTENING" over and over with my hands on my ears."

Really?

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#24

Post by new299 »

scott_s wrote: post #21
new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

I think that learning a scripting language is critical, but which scripting language is not. I used Perl for a while, then picked up Python, and I just adore Python. But pick one of Perl, Python, Ruby (or even Bash), and you're in good shape. So, my actual advice is take a look at Perl, Python and Ruby, see which one excites you more, and commit to learning it for a while.

I've actually written small projects in all of them. The one that excited me the most was Ruby (and outside of scripting, golang). Ruby seems clean and small, which I like. But I also question the long term prospects of various languages. There seems to have been an explosion of languages in the last few years and I wonder how many will survive long term. Then I'm possibly just spoiled by C and C++, which just seem to maintain a (relatively) mainstream status.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#25

Post by new299 »

jnazario wrote: post #18
new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

i'll wade in. note that i'm bigoted against perl, i'll say so clearly up front. perl is better than shell scripting at automation, this much is true. perl has a strong use case there. had, i'll argue. perl's idioms and structure promotes wonky, hard to read and hard to maintain code. it's true. get even the most die hard perl fan a beer or two and they'll wind up admitting it, sheepishly and quietly. but yeah, perl t…

Yea, I kind of agree with some of this. My coworkers are big fans of Perl Critic because it enforces a standard (and I assume one that promotes cleaner Perl). But it often seem to me that the popularity for Critic is somewhat of a language failing.

I guess the argument could be main that it allows you to write hacky little scripts which could can then apply Critic too and slowly refactor into large projects. I'm not entirely sure I buy it.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#26

Post by new299 »

pyre wrote: post #23
jnazario wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'll wade in. note that i'm bigoted against perl, i'll say so clearly up front. perl is better than shell scripting at automation, this much is true. perl has a strong use case there. had, i'll argue. perl's idioms and structure promotes wonky, hard to read and hard to maintain code. it's true. get even the most die hard perl fan a beer or two and they'll wind up admitting it, sheepishly and quietly. but yeah, perl t…

> "don't use perl, it promotes brain rot" > and no, i wont revisit my thinking. "I don't think this is the tool for the job, THEREFORE IT ROTS YOUR BRAIN! If you try to talk to me about that, I will chant, "I'M NOT LISTENING" over and over with my hands on my ears." Really?

I think the argument might be that it's easy (easier than many languages) to slip into writing bad Perl, which promotes brain rot, it also sounds like it's a discussion he's had many times before... and perhaps isn't too interested in having again.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#27

Post by noonespecial »

new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

Because it's better than bash and it's almost certainly already on you system. Even if that system happens to be your office's Centos 3.5 server.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#28

Post by scott_s »

new299 wrote: post #24
scott_s wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that learning a scripting language is critical, but which scripting language is not. I used Perl for a while, then picked up Python, and I just adore Python. But pick one of Perl, Python, Ruby (or even Bash), and you're in good shape. So, my actual advice is take a look at Perl, Python and Ruby, see which one excites you more, and commit to learning it for a while.

I've actually written small projects in all of them. The one that excited me the most was Ruby (and outside of scripting, golang). Ruby seems clean and small, which I like. But I also question the long term prospects of various languages. There seems to have been an explosion of languages in the last few years and I wonder how many will survive long term. Then I'm possibly just spoiled by C and C++, which just seem t…

Ruby, Python and Perl are older than you probably realize. Ruby started in 1993, Python in 1991, and Perl in 1987. I would not worry about their long term prospects: they've been around for a while, and I think it's a safe assumption they will be around for a while still.

Avoid decision paralysis. If you like Ruby, go with it. As I said, I don't think which scripting language you pick is all that important, but I think it's crucial that you know one.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#29

Post by jcurbo »

new299 wrote: post #15

I'd be genuinely interested in reasons why I should learn Perl? I've been hacking away at some Perl interfaces lately but finding it difficult. It seems like a big language (I'm reading Perl Programming, which is certainly a big book). So rather than just hacking away, is there a good reason I should learn the language properly and push through "Perl Programming" or say learning Ruby, Python or golang really well. Wi…

I assume you mean "Programming Perl", aka the Camel book. (has a camel on the cover) In my experience the Camel book is better as a reference and you should use "Learning Perl" to actually learn the language. It's structured better for that task I think.

Re: Perl 5.17.6 is now available

#30

Post by pyre »

new299 wrote: post #26
pyre wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "don't use perl, it promotes brain rot" > and no, i wont revisit my thinking. "I don't think this is the tool for the job, THEREFORE IT ROTS YOUR BRAIN! If you try to talk to me about that, I will chant, "I'M NOT LISTENING" over and over with my hands on my ears." Really?

I think the argument might be that it's easy (easier than many languages) to slip into writing bad Perl, which promotes brain rot, it also sounds like it's a discussion he's had many times before... and perhaps isn't too interested in having again.

  > it's easy (easier than many languages) to slip into
  > writing bad Perl
Bad programmers will write bad code no matter the language. I don't like this idea that the language can somehow force people to write better code, or that it should.
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