in reply to To Perl or not to PERL.

Here's my take on it: if I reply to a node anyway, I point out that PERL only exists as Inline::PERL. I try to frame it as a half-joke, in company of a hopefully helpful reply. Writing a reply that only consists of a perl vs Perl vs PERL comment seems uncalled-for to me.

Is perl vs. PERL vs. Perl a triviality? I would say so (counter arguments welcome),

I object. Names contribute to identity, and are important to most humans. I still flinch a bit when somebody spells my name and nick as mortiz, which happens quite often.

And I do care about Perl. If somebody with sufficient technical background asks me about my hobbies, I don't say "I program", but "I program Perl".

1) "Don't mention the war" Ignore it. Anyone staying longer with perl will adopt the right spelling by observation and mimicry fast enough

Possible. But then other people come to the site, and see that it's spelled PERL in the heart of the Perl community, nobody objects - it must be right.

2) "I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it" Put in lots of 'perl' in your answer. Instead of "Use split to extract the data" say "perl has the split function to extract the data". He won't have a chance against his subconsciousness

He has a very good chance. Learning works self-reinforcing, and writing stuff typically makes you remember things better than if you just read it.

Modern Psychology has numbers for the relative effectiveness of learning through reading and writing, which of course I can't find right now, but all the results I've seen so far suggest that the vast major learns better from writing.

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Re^2: To Perl or not to PERL.
by jethro (Monsignor) on Jul 14, 2010 at 18:37 UTC
    "I object. Names contribute to identity, and are important to most humans"

    I agree. But misspelling (for example the aforementioned pearl) is of a different quality than case.

    "But then other people come to the site, and see that it's spelled PERL... nobody objects - it must be right"

    On the Monastery Gates page perl is mentioned correctly 73 times at the moment. The impression anyone gets seeing this is that whatever 'PERL' is, it is not used, except by an obvious newbie. Even if he should conclude that PERL is technically not wrong (if he thinks about it at all) there is nearly zero chance he will use that.

    and writing stuff typically makes you remember things better than if you just read it

    Yes, but what is the ratio of reading to writing even a newbie does on a site like this. If he reads 10 times as much 'Perl' and 'perl' as he writes PERL he is still learning the right version.

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      But misspelling (for example the aforementioned pearl) is of a different quality than case.

      Perhaps not in your native language.

      Remember also that the difference between use strict; and use Strict; is dramatic. Proper capitalization in programming is vital to correct behavior.

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        Perhaps not in your native language.

        Note that I share the same native language with moritz who made the initial point. Since he shares your view, native language doesn't seem to be the dividing line

        "Proper capitalization in programming is vital..."

        Sure, and proper capitalization in sign language is absolutely non-vital. If you want to offer programming languages as analogy I might ask where the for loop is in the english language ;-)

        Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against keeping perl in lowercase. But whatever importance you or I might attach to it, the question is what impression newcomers take away when they get corrected for that. Look at young programmers used to twitter and the World-of-Warcraft chat and guess what they think about the importance of case

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Re^2: To Perl or not to PERL.
by JavaFan (Canon) on Jul 14, 2010 at 22:12 UTC
    I don't say "I program", but "I program Perl".
    Yeah, you say I program Perl, but what they hear is I program PERL.

    Java "I program capital-P lowercase-e lowercase-r lowercase-l" Fan

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      Ha Ha ;)

      A stranger walks into a computer store, flags the floor manager and says: "Yes, you have a very fine establishment here."
      "The finest" replies the manager. "What can I do for you?"
      The stranger continues "I'd like to learn more about PERL."
      manager: "Perl sir? Yes, right this way."
      stranger: "Not Perl, PERL. The PERL programming language my good man."
      manager: "Right sir, perl. We have a very informative display right over here."
      stranger: "This is not PERL? I distinctly asked you about PERL. I absolutely must know more about PERL."
      manager: "Perl sir?" (getting confused)
      stranger: "Yes PERL! Do you know who I am?" (becoming visible agitated)
      manager: "Well, no sir. You've just walked into my store." (smug bugger that one)
      stranger: "I've heard tell that PERL is the finest programming language in all the land. I simply must learn it."
      manager: "Oh, you mean Perl?"
      stranger: "Yes PERL."
      manager: "Well then, why didn't you say so? Right this way please."
      The manager takes the stranger to a shelf of programming books picks out a book called "Learn Ruby in 24 hours" and hands it to the stranger.
      manager: "Here you are Sir. The clerk at the front will help you with your purchase."
      stranger: "Thank you my good man. You have a very fine establishment here."
      The stranger walks out of the store looking quite satisfied.

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