to code or not to code?

[Don Harrop]

Thanks for all the good posts!  There's nothin' like asking about which
language is best to stir up discussion on the list.. :-)  Time to buy some
books and some Mountain Dew!

Don

> 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.)
>
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