Maybe I should unsubscribe and disable this account before I hit send, but I have to defend what I wrote. I certainly never expected to be cursed at for posting an opinion response with justification to a beginners list!
I never suggested C++ (I agree, it's not a good OO paradigm - probably one of the reasons why it's so underused) - I would have suggested smalltalk but thought something used on a more massive scale would be more useful. Perl is cryptic because many Perl programmers tend to like to be cryptic - with today's optomizing compilers/interpreters it doesn't matter if you can write something in one line, it matters that someone else can read it. I think code that is not clear represents bad programming practice. Search the web for obfuscated and you will find Perl. As far as scripting vs. programming language, I mean that some things can't be done in Perl - if I understand correctly, many perl calls are just stubs to routines written in C or even assembler. Is that really a programming language, if I can't control every aspect of the system? Even in C some things have to be done with assembler code. Regular expressions (some of the special symbols I mentioned, but also all the others) are a relatively complex concept for a beginner, but almost impossible to get through any Perl without. And to read someone elses's perl you have to look up the special symbols. Is that as true in C or Java? or are the routines and even the constructs closer to English in those languages? Also being able to change the symbols/structures used in constructs (such as =~ m#something# vs just /something/) can be daunting for beginners. What other languages allow the return of multiple values? Ask any professor if this is a good idea, I don't have to justify that perspective. I didn't say what should be done, I gave my opinion on what should not be done. If you learn to do this in Perl, how will you adapt to other languages? And I certainly never suggested global variables! What other language is so well known for the blunders of it's programmers? Do I have to mention Matt's Script Archive? Even people on this list Perl have written that code they have dispersed in the past has taught bad practices. Not that C or Java disables mistakes, they just force you to think in a more structured manner. I think this is critical for beginners. Most degrees in CS/CIS require that you write a simple compiler. If you don't learn pointers and memory management, how are you going to write a compiler, in Perl? I think memory management is also critical to new programmers, or even what the concept of memory is, how to allocate, protect and reclaim it. Just because we have tools that make this unnecessary do we skip this? Because we have graphing calculators do we start with Calculus III? I never said C stopped you from making mistakes - I think I said that the user would learn more from them. I agree that Perl is a way of thinking. I am not sure it is the basis for an education in CS/CIS. Is there any reason not to learn C and Java? Which has broader applications? When I apply for certain jobs I take Perl off my resume because it is not considered professional. Interesting that no one refuted the loosely typed statement; I think data types and conversions are critical concepts to beginners. Didn't everyone who ever took a CS class have to convert from hex, write sort routines, etc.? Also funny that people will defend Perl so forcefully to a devotee. Would I be on a Perl list if I didn't believe in Perl? Can someone summarize the arguments for why Perl is a good language for beginners instead of just countering the arguments against it? I promise not to respond. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
