to code or not to code?

[Kevin Buettner]

On Jul 24, 12:39pm, Don Harrop wrote:

> I was wondering if I could get some feedback on some scripting / programming
> languages to jump into for a newbie coder.  Perl seems like a good choice
> because everybody has it and there's tons of support.  You can either use it
> for web page development or linux admin stuff.  I don't know if you can
> compile it to a single exacutable under DOS/WIN stuff though.  That would be
> cool.  I've listened to a few people on the list talk about python and it
> sounds good but it doesn't seem to have the same amount of support as Perl
> does.  C++ would be cool but I don't want to have to compile everything
> before I can run it.  It might be overkill for a newbie.  :-)  Links on
> where to go to learn the code would be nice too...

I too think Perl is a good choice.  Some comments though...

 - I'm not sure why you place so much importance on support.  For
   newbies, both Perl and Python are rock solid; I'd be *very*
   surprised if you encountered problems with either language that
   required any support at all.

 - Compiling to an executable is overrated; don't worry about it.

 - There are a lot of Perl books that I can recommend.  One that I
   know almost nothing about, but which I think you should look at is
   "Elements of Programming with Perl" by Andrew L. Johnson.  This
   book is supposedly written for folks whom Perl will be the first
   programming language that they learn.  If you pick it up and choose
   to use it to learn Perl, let me know how it goes.  See

	http://www.manning.com/Johnson/index.html

   for more information.

 - You may also wish to read "Choosing a Perl Book" at

	http://www.perl.com/pub/2000/06/27/perlbook.html

 - Most of the O'Reilly Perl books are worth owning.  In particular,
   I recommend "Programming Perl" and "Mastering Regular Expressions".
   However, if you're a true programming neophyte, neither of these
   books will be very accessible.

 - I also like "Effective Perl Programming" by Joseph Hall and Randal
   Schwartz.

 - Books will only take you so far.  The only way to really get good
   at programming is to do it.  The more time you spend at it, the
   better you'll get.  The cool thing about Perl is that you don't
   have to know very much to get started.  You can start experimenting
   with the language almost as soon as you open a book.  (People who
   attempt to read an entire Perl book and then write some code are
   definitely doing it wrong.)