I suppose I qualify as a "casual programmer", since my job of AIX support
doesn't really call upon coding. Naturally I have been studying-up on ksh
scripting and have an above-novice ability to script using ksh/awk/sed. I
accomplish these scripts by either stealing directly from "smit"
(explanation available for non-AIX people upon request) when I have no clue
whatsoever, or by starting a command and adding pipes until I get a print of
what I want in stdout, or I read through one of the senior guys' scripts.
So, for me, reading through a book has usually been a boring experience,
although I usually pick up stuff and have to force myself at times. I was
really baffled the first time I tried reading a ksh script, mainly wondering
what the heck those variables were referencing! So I just started reading
through the ORA Korn Shell book and after a couple chapters I had figured
out enough to do what I wanted to do. Hehe, I didn't like it, but I learned
a lot. Given the choice I'd rather get a code skeleton with nice newbie
commenting to start me off and then tinker away. But in this instance I'll
probably be buying a couple ORA books by the end of next week. =)
Gary L. Armstrong
AIX Support Specialist
The Coca-Cola Company
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Thompson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 12:10 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Reading versus Referencing Books
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of David Farnum
> Subject: New
>
> Hello I have been using Linux for 1 year and I am just starting
> Perl. I just want to say that it is great to have a new user mailing
> list with out fear of looking stupid in the programming world. I have
> about 4 books on Perl I am reading now and just from what I have learned
> I can say I love the Perl language
>
I'm curious. How many of you out there (newbies and oldies alike) would
suggest reading a book ("Programming Perl," for example...) cover to cover
to learn a language?
In my opinion, I've learned more about Perl by examining others' code and
*referencing* "The Bible" as needed than I ever could have going from cover
to cover. Mainly because, by getting my hands dirty, I learn what works and
doesn't based on how *I* think and the way *my* logic works. It also helps
to see how a particular syntax or module works in the real world as opposed
to the abstracts that are often presented in books and the like.
Bear in mind, I'm not knocking the "cover to cover" approach. Whatever
works best for an individual is the best solution for them. I was just
wondering, in general, amongst fellow programmers, what has worked best for
you, and why.
How is this relevant to the list at large? Maybe we can help, through
relating our own experiences, give others a sense of which route they should
take. Some might argue that taking the "reference" route in regards to
books fosters the "gimme the code, I'll learn it later" attitude that
sparked off on the list a while back, about which I was rather vocal. But,
if we're truly here to help others on the road of Perlism, we can only offer
our insight and not make any assumptions about how it's to be consumed.
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