> 0. Do we have an IDE for Perl / Python??
I have used a Perl IDE, but I didn't find it of any help. The only popular
languages with good IDE are C, C++ and Java (if you count, then include ASP
via Visual Interdev, VB, C# and all the other .NET languages)
> 1. Can I have a compiled binary for Perl / Python? I believe its
> interpreted.
Don't know about Python, but I have yet to see any for perl. It is almost
impossible to write a perl compiler that will implement the whole perl
language.
> 2. Can Perl / Python talk to C/C++ Programs / Libraries? Can I ask a
similar
> question wrt Java??
Java, Perl and Python can all talk to C/C++ programs (or for that matter any
suitably written native applications, irrespective of the language used)
> 3. I knew a bit of C, and knowing that, it should'nt be too difficult to
> pickup elementary C++. Though I did'nt program in OO, I had a decent
> exposure to OO basic concepts. (I tried a few examples in VB some years
> back, and it gives me idea enough!!). I am put off by Java / VB / .net
/etc
> because at this age, I feel its difficult for me to keep a track of so
many
> objects, classes and their properties: May be I am wrong and may be I have
> to go through same in OO for Perl / Python [ Object :: Property ] stuff.
IMHO if you find Java and OO to be complicated, then you have probably not
really picked up the basics of OO programming. It took me some time, but
once I got the hang of OO, I never wanted to go back to structured languages
like C. The main problem with most OO examples is that mostly they try to
over complicate things. For most small projects you can get away with
procedural programming. For any medium to large project, if you do your
basic design properly, you will find OO to be a really good thing. The main
advantage of OO is in making source code much easier to maintain. If you
follow sane design guidelines, then you can make your code very easy to
maintain with minimum extra work if you use OO. It finally boils down to
individual programmers, but I feel that those who get afraid of OO languages
are the people who have not got a large part of the OO concepts.
> 7. Real Time Applications are not an immediate requirement. But having
been
> a EHV Power Systems student, I know C and FORTRAN have been extensively
used
> for system studies / SCADA applications.
> I thought that LISP was used in Artificial Intelligence Apps? Did even
> Autocad had to do something with LISP? Thanks a lot for the new addition
> "SCHEME" and the on line course materials.
> With respect to Perl / Python: Availability of programmers / individuals
> within the organisations who know these languages even basics, is a big
> question. Knowing fully well the Free/Libre vs Proprietary wars,
> particularly in the enterprise context, geting people to co-operate on
Perl
> / python is difficult, as on date. We need to run special awareness camps
/
> courses for these languages, if they are really so good. How about the
> commercial training shops?? Does any one have courses on Perl / Python?
> Which is the best book from an Indian Publisher, which can be used as a
Text
> Book, for such a course.
IMHO if you are getting applications developed in India, then do stay away
from Perl/Python. Although there are a lot of perl programmers, not many are
real perl programmers. Most of them are C/C++/Java programmers who have an
idea of perl. Using perl effectively for projects requires good perl
programmers. And finding them is not an easy task.
> Surprisingly, no one mentioned PHP!! And there may not be many on this
list
> from hardcore M$ camp, to add to this discussion. But Mono-C#? And I must
> add that I have come across Open Source Projects, implementing likes of
> Visual Basic etc on Linux.
As I replied to an earlier post. PHP is good, but only for web apps. And in
India finding PHP programmers who are decent is not very easy. And in any
case, I find Java/JSP to be a much better platform for developing web
applications. Using a good IDE like JBuilder, you can be a lot more
productive writing web apps using Java tech, than using PHP or perl. ASP.NET
has copied a lot of the cool features of Java/JSP and has introduced a lot
of handy features of it's own. But I personally feel that there is a big
risk in comiting to a M$ solution. Java apps work quite well under windows,
and you can get high quality OSS servlet/jsp engines like resin, which will
work equally well on windows, unix or mac (under OS X). The main advantage
of using JSP with custom taglibs is that you can scale up development very
easily. Using PHP, ASP or even ASP.NET can cause a lot of headaches for
large projects. Another reason why I like Java is because of the tool
support that you get with the Java platform. You can get very good IDEs.
Modern IDEs like Jbuilder 8 and IntelliJ IDEA 3 have a host of intresting
features like refactoring support, static analysis (only on IDEA), unit
testing using JUnit that makes code maintainence and development quite fast.
Java on the server is also not very slow, and they scale very well if you
throw in more hardware and money. Java on the client is something that I
feel is still not ready for general applications.
If you wan't to use non M$ platforms then stay away from M$ products.
Although you have the capablity of running .NET apps under mono, it is still
has a long way to go before it can compete with the official .NET framework
from M$. Also note that windows platform has a lot more things than .NET,
and using it requires a commitment to using M$ products. There is no real
alternative to windows when you use M$ development tools!
Ambar
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