Perl For Amateur Computer Programmers

From: edgrsprj (edgrsprj_at_ix.netcom.com)
Date: 01/31/04

  • Next message: A. Sinan Unur: "Re: Perl For Amateur Computer Programmers" 
    Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 13:45:58 GMT

    As I stated in some recent posts, I have been looking for a programming
    language which scientists and other people around the world who are not
    professional computer programmers could use with the same ease as Basic.

    I suspect that Perl might not be sufficiently reliable that people who are
    developing computer programs for air traffic controllers would make it their
    first choice. But for use within the international scientific community it
    looks almost ideal because of its versatility, ease of use, and
    availability. Unfortunately I have been encountering one major problem with
    it. And that is with its documentation.

    If you are trying to make the transition from some language such as Basic to
    Perl it can be difficult because of the very large number of commands etc.
    which are available in Perl, because of their many options, and because of
    Perl's structure which I myself do not yet fully understand. So what I have
    been doing while I have been learning how to use it during the past few
    weeks is prepare a Web page which briefly outlines some of its basic
    commands etc. People who can already write simple programs in other
    languages can use those commands to almost immediately begin creating and
    running simple Perl programs.

    The URL for that Web page is:

    Perl For Amateur Computer Programmers
    http://www.freewebz.com/eq-forecasting/Perl.html

    People who would like to see Perl used by more people around the world might
    want to examine that Web page and post comments about it here or send them
    to me by e-mail. I believe that all of the commands on that page will work
    as is. But they should probably be checked for errors by someone other than
    me.

    Unless there is some good reason not to do this then early next week I will
    probably begin letting people around the world know about that Web page.
    And I am planning to gradually add additional commands information etc. to
    that page.

    If anyone would like to list the addresses for good introductory Perl
    reference manuals that they might know about on the Internet then that would
    be appreciated. I will take a look at them and perhaps add those references
    to my own Web page. However, my Web page is intended to provide people with
    a certain type of information. And it will probably remain active even if I
    learn that there are already some excellent reference manuals available.

  • Next message: A. Sinan Unur: "Re: Perl For Amateur Computer Programmers"

    Relevant Pages

    • Re: Data plotting questions Nov. 2, 2006
      ... One of the major goals here is to identify a language which scientists ... And some of the important considerations are that the language should be: ... Have a support group such as this Perl Newsgroup ... specialty programs using "GuiTest" routines. ...
      (comp.lang.perl.misc)
    • Re: Python or PHP?
      ... > every language here and there more ways to do something. ... The best the programmer can do, as you imply, is to ... parse out into proper perl expressions. ... > lists, dictionaries, etc. etc. ...
      (comp.lang.python)
    • Re: Native language versions
      ... It is a different language which can be translated ... into perl and can use Perl modules. ... away quite a bit from the OP's notion of just translating perl keywords ... There's probably not much use for a user-accessible programming language ...
      (comp.lang.perl.misc)
    • Re: Wondering if you guys would like to comment on this
      ... >>ever tried using someone's highly customized EMACS setup? ... I've had the same experience with perl that he ... problem with any programming language, perl tends to make it worse ... I have the same rules on LISP programming that I do with perl ...
      (comp.lang.lisp)
    • Re: Why I never got into Lisp
      ... solutions in languages like Perl. ... and what you tried in Lisp, and how Lisp mapped better, for you. ... While this can be done to some extent in any language, ... liked the fact that Ruby, like lisp, seems to have sensible defaults ...
      (comp.lang.lisp)