Perl Ego

Hey all! I've been programming for a few years now, I did some C++, Java, Php, Javascript, Xml, html, blablabla, ... and 3 years ago, a coworker told me about a scripting language, that is multi-platform, that can do CGI programming... and I discovered Perl. The first thing I did was to scream when I saw all the weird caracters and I really screamed (like a girl) when I saw the regular expressions (ie. =~ m//) .. what the 'beep' was that? Ah .. but I didn't give up! The first thing I did was to buy the book 'learning perl' and I wrote a script on my NT machine and ftp it on a Unix server and ... it runned like a charm!..not... forgot the CHMOD ;) anyway, I'm now working full time with perl, and I CAN REALY do a program that would take 100s of lines in C or VB ... in a few lines of perl!... now I'm a fanatic of regexs! hang in there newbies ! mouhahahaha! jean-daniel

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Re: Perl Ego by mrmick (Curate) on Jan 18, 2001 at 19:10 UTC
I was fresh into IT when I discovered Perl (rather, I was thrown into it). All I had behind me were C/C++, VB, some assembler... I had just learned some basic HTML and didn't know a thing about Unix except how to spell it. I did the same type of screaming when I saw the 'weird' characters and regular expression. I got a copy of Learning Perl and Programming Perl and proceeded to try to understand the code I inherited. Because I was somewhat inexperienced it took me a couple of months before I really started to like Perl. Now, I can honestly say after 4 yers of using Perl, it's the best language I have worked with. It gets better all the time and I learn more every day. I admit I have some bad programming habits but Perl allows me to still program while I try to overcome my habits one at a time... Perl also helped me to learn Unix. I am grateful for everything Perl gave me There may be a learning curve for Perl but IMHO the benefits make it more than worthwhile. Cheers and go for it! Mick	[reply]
Re: Perl Ego by iamnothing (Friar) on Jan 18, 2001 at 22:19 UTC
When I first discovered Perl, I did the same thing, especially when I saw regular expressions which I'd been avoiding learning almost as much as WinBatch (don't ask if you don't know...don't ever ask). But as I created smaller scripts to handle forms and tweaked PD code, I began to gain a respect for it. Even now, I don't necessarily go out looking for tasks to implement in Perl, but I use it often to perform a good number of system and CGI tasks. And I love regular expressions. Frightening, but true. Part of the reason that I joined the Monks was to gain that next step in Perl evolution: expanded creative coding. I still mainly lurk and read others' information to further my own evolution. Hopefully, soon, I'll take the next step. Work allowing...	[reply]
Re: Perl Ego by john1987 (Acolyte) on Jan 27, 2001 at 04:09 UTC
When I first seen Perl from my days of installing it, it was cool. It was not only multi-useful it was sort of easy. The thing that is great about Perl is that you can start making scripts within your first interactions with it. Perl is generally a multi-platform laungauge too. The way that each programmer does it is his/her own way. As said by mostly every programmer... "There is more than one way to do it." For everyone who is starting new to Perl (as i am) just remember that what ever you do in Perl is a work of art. Perl isnt meant to destroy your concept of programming but to broadin your horizons on it. And it will. -john	[reply]