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Re: Teaching perl over lunch

by BrowserUk (Patriarch)
on Jul 27, 2007 at 17:06 UTC ( [id://629154]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Teaching perl over lunch

While advice over which topics to cover are appreciated, I am more interested in how to deal with the human element.

Kinda mixing the two together. Before you decide what to teach, canvas a few of the Java guys you get on with and ask them what bits of their day to day workload they most dislike. Chances are that there will be some mundane but essential, currently manual administrative tasks they have to do but find to be a PITA. If you're lucky, one or two of these will lend themselves to being automated using Perl.

If you can start your demo by writing something that has immediate benefit to their daily lot, you'll get an immediately enthusiastic audience. If you demonmstrate creating it in realtime, having carefully worked out your solution previously to ensure your demo goes smoothly, so much the better. The real trick here will be winkling out one or two good candidates.

By starting with something that their main language doesn't really lend itself to, you'll avoid coming across like you are telling them "Perl is better than Java". If you can do that, you may avoid some reluctance/resistance.


Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

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Re^2: Teaching perl over lunch
by Fletch (Bishop) on Jul 27, 2007 at 19:27 UTC
    ... having carefully worked out your solution previously to ensure your demo goes smoothly ...

    Famous last words . . . :)

    (Keep in mind one of the the corollaries to one of to Clarke's Laws: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo." )

      I know my demonstrations won't go smoothly, so I record them as screencasts ahead of time. I still manage to bungle whatever it is i'm trying to do while recording, but a little deft editing makes quick work of silly typos and "duh" moments while I'm trying to figure out why something that ought to work doesn't.


      --chargrill
      s**lil*; $*=join'',sort split q**; s;.*;grr; &&s+(.(.)).+$2$1+; $; = qq-$_-;s,.*,ahc,;$,.=chop for split q,,,reverse;print for($,,$;,$*,$/)
Re^2: Teaching perl over lunch
by Gavin (Archbishop) on Jul 27, 2007 at 18:25 UTC
    That and a good free lunch would have me interested
    Any room left?

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