Thus it was written in the epistle of Russ Allbery,
>
> This falls firmly in the category of things that are powerful for
> experienced users of the language but may be somewhat difficult to learn.
> I don't think Perl has being easy to learn as it's primary goal, nor
> should it.
Russ,
Would mind saying that again? It's been said much too seldom around here
and it's really refreshing to heard it put into works.
Being easy to learn is not Perl's main goal.
That goes in with
Being a perfect CS language is not Perl's main goal.
I don't know for sure what Perl's main goal is, but it's definitely significant
to Perl to make life easier and it has done that. The prefixes and context
sensitivity make Perl easier to read and to write and the fact that it makes
better use of the entire printable set is an asset and not otherwise :-).
<minor rant>
I had a long discussion on another list with folks who were preaching that
regexen were good because they were really powerful despite being difficult to
read. I say that they don't have to be difficult to read. They're a language
just like everything else. How long did it take before you could read your
native language? Years. But it doesn't seem so difficult now. Why do folks
feel that if they have to put out a little effort to learn something that it's
a horrible thing?
</minor rant>
Ted
--
Ted Ashton ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), Info Sys, Southern Adventist University
==========================================================
It is true that Fourier had the opinion that the principal aim of
mathematics was public utility and explanation of natural phenomena; but a
philosopher like him should have known that the sole end of science is the
honor of the human mind, and that under this title a question about numbers
is worth as much as a question about the system of the world.
-- Jacobi, Carl
==========================================================
Deep thoughts to be found at http://www.southern.edu/~ashted
