Following the Buddha thread a little further... The first thing most VB Prog'ers I know say when I show them a bit 'o Perl (the little bit I know) is "It looks like less typing, but so sparse and hard to read". (Or something like that...) I think Perl is similar to Zen painting. At first you paint much more than you need to, filling in with much detail and busy brushstrokes. But as you become more adept, your 'brushstrokes' gain clarity and conciseness; you are able to convey much more with a brevity that can astound the 'paint by numbers' artists of the Prog'ers world. Those who say 'Perl is write-only' have yet to comprehend that the brevity they find so confusing is the essential element that allows Perl as a language to 'get out of your way' so you can think about the goal of the program and not the language itself. I think this is one reason LW modeled Perl on natural languges; you don't usually think about rules of grammer before you speak. But, that's just an opinion, I could be wrong...

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RE: Perl as Zen Painting
by Simplicus (Monk) on Apr 13, 2000 at 19:05 UTC
    I agree. As one who has "painted by numbers" to use your analogy, I find Perl intensly liberating. Once you get beyond the stage of learning even a small part of the language, you find that more can be said with less. As you begin to realize this, (as I am as I write this), it suddenly dawns on you that nothing more need be said. I am just starting down the Perl path, but I have already found that with Perl I think less about syntax and more about meaning. Years ago, I had a professor who admonished me to think "less about the language, and more about the algorhythm." The most interesting aspect of developing with Perl is that the language itself get's out of its own way, and allows you to keep the end result in mind. This is its true power, and its true beauty. That professor was very wise. Simplicus.
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RE: Perl as Zen Painting
by Anonymous Monk on Apr 14, 2000 at 00:24 UTC 
    A novice once asked the master:

- Master, does a dog have the Perl-nature?

The master replied:

- MU.

The student was enlightened.

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RE: Perl as Zen Painting
by cciulla (Friar) on Apr 29, 2000 at 15:42 UTC
    There are programmers then there are duffers.

    A programmer will look at ANY tool (perl, VB, c, python, COBOL, Assembly, etc.) to see if it will satisfy his/her needs.

    A duffer says, "That looks like line noise."

    A programmer looks at other's code and says, "What can I learn from this?" (Even if it's how not to do something.)

    A duffer says, "That sucks."

    If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

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