in reply to Re: Re: Re: Listen to Tilly ... he knows what's what!
in thread References

Every Java programmer knows references, even if they don't know it. It's an integral part of Java. Every time you use an object, you are using a reference. The difference is a syntax difference. Java uses '.' and Perl uses '->' ... Ok. Just say that '->' is '.' and you are 75% of the way there.

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/me wants to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

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Re: Java does TOO have references...
by Cine (Friar) on Aug 20, 2001 at 18:47 UTC
    I know, but as in Perl you dont actually have to KNOW about them... ;) I waited several weeks in my perl programming to even look at references.
    However when using the construct \%c it becomes a necessety to know it...

    T I M T O W T D I
[reply]
      *blinks* So, what you're saying is that you're trying to figure out a way in Perl to let uneducated programmers remain uneducated? That is ridiculous.

      *ponders*

      No. It's not ridiculous. It's irresponsible. Your organization will now have uneducated programmers producing their production code. They will be wasting your money, time, and squandering your reputation among your customers.

      It is your responsability to educate your programmers to know the full depth and breadth of the language(s) they are working in. If they choose to not be educated, they have also chosen to not be paid. It's as simple as that.

      Here's another way to look at it - you have hired professionals, not babies. Don't baby them!

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      /me wants to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

      Vote paco for President!

[reply]
        Not all people who have to program in Perl are programmers. And in many organizations it would be irresponsible to insist that they should be.

        It is often wise to give some measure of responsibility to your users. They have jobs to do, and it would be unwise for you to make your professional programmers a perpetual bottleneck for all aspects of that process. Should you be involved for some activities? Yes. But just as you do not need an architect to put a picture up in someone's home, you should not need a programmer to modify a personal utility script.

        However when you do that, you now have people who are not programmers who need to program. Should you insist on making them all programmers? I think not!

        This is one of the prime reasons why Larry Wall insists that baby Perl is Officially OK...

[reply]
        No, what I am saying is that if I have to teach someone perl (or any other programming language for that matter), the last thing I want to show is actual references and explain how they work since this requires me also to tell about how the memory layout of a machine is, how transfer of arguments work etc.

        If I feel that the person I'm teaching is currently not able to cope with this, I wont squash him with something that will make him go home feeling he is totally lost.
        Rather I will try to teach him regular expression, hashes and arrays. Why do you think that the book Learning Perl doesnt even cover references?

        T I M T O W T D I
[reply]

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