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All the Perl that's Practical to Extract and Report

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Perl v. Java 3 Comments More | Login | Reply /

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  • I posted a comment on perlmonks [perlmonks.org] recently about this need for Perl people to put down Java, but a couple more things:

    Dedicated IDEs are bullshit. There, I said it. Coders shouldn't handle their code with the tongs of an IDE, like some poor MS Word shlub. If the java folks have more IDEs than Perl People, good on 'em.

    The thing missing from this statement is some sort of qualification, like "for me". I am more productive in xemacs and a CLI, but I'd never presume to tell someone else their tools are shit

    • The problem is the Perl is ghettoized in programming community at large. If you read the original Slashdot thread, this will become very apparent. It is my belief that too many programmers have no real idea how their code and the bare-metal machine on which it runs work together. The whole notion of an application dedicated to programming is really a windows concept. In unix, the WHOLE operating system is the IDE. In Windows, user-end programming feels like an afterthought.

      Also here at use.perl, I know I'm

      • I hear you about Perl being ghettoized. But I've found that people who can put two clues together will be convinced when I quickly create something that works well and reliably. Or when someone asks, "Do you know if we can...?" and I immediately respond: "There's a module for that. I've used it. It's easy."

        People who aren't convinced by results aren't going to be convinced by anything, and they'll pass from fad to fad and eventually (in a perfect world?) seek their natural level. After a few strenuous tries, I don't bother with them.

        I also know what you mean about Unix, but I'm finding that I can give the unix vibe, little by little, to even hardcore VB folks. Again, it's all about the results. I'm getting asked more and more to create scripts to insert, remove, or extract information from hundreds of VB code and form files, something the IDE just can't do. (Apparently there is a way, but the interface for automating the VB IDE is apparently so horrendous that the local VB guru, after investigating and experimenting for a couple weeks, refuses to even discuss it for fear its virus will spread.)

        After two or three of these, people get interested and after I show them how easy it is, their curiosity is quite strong. Then it's: "Well, in Windows we have to do this and that extra step, but in unix we'd just pipe in here, and..." And I always install xemacs on their machines -- a real virus!

        One of the reasons this is a sore spot for me is I think we (as perl advocates) do ourselves a great disservice by dissing out of hand other languages or tools. It makes us look desperate and petty. I know that this is the choir and there's no danger of that here, but then other people see we're drinking the kool-aid [frii.com] and they'll wonder why they should take us seriously :-)

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