Re: Is PERL good for a linguist new to programming?

ccc31807 <cartercc@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:3e63aa6b-bfbd-4024-bc34-
1b10082a105b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

On May 25, 12:12 pm, p.podmos...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I also want to be a better
specialist in my domain (im a translator), but hence my above
question.

Programming is also translation -- translating a language that a human
can understand (like Perl) to a language that a machine can understand
(like 1s and 0s).

No no no ... That is not programming. That is compilation.

Think about this: what if you had all the proper tools for a job and
knew how to use the tools, but had no idea how to do the job?

Quite right.

A famous computer scientist (I've forgotten who) said that we have two
shining jewels that enabled the modern age: calculus and algorithms.
(Quote is approximate.)

Formal algorithms (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_M%C5%
ABs%C4%81_al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB) and Calculus existed a long time
without much effect on the daily lives of people. We owe modernity to
political and economic freedom but that is getting waaaaaayyyy to far
off-topic.

The idea of the algorithm is ABSOLUTELY
fundamental to the modern age, and I'm sure that you use algorithms
all the time without realizing it. This has nothing to do with this
thread, but it might be helpful for you to spend a little time
thinking about what algorithms are and why the idea of the algorithm
is so important.

An algorithm is a carefully constructed complete recipe for doing
something. So, yeah, they are everywhere. And, guess what, they were
available even before they were formally named algorithms.

There was an article on slashdot.com several weeks ago about the
practice of programming a generation ago.

This should give you an idea:

http://prog21.dadgum.com/29.html

Sinan


--
A. Sinan Unur <1usa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
(remove .invalid and reverse each component for email address)

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