[techtalk] Perl for idiots?

[Jeff]

On Fri, Apr 07, 2000 at 02:17:25PM -0700, Nancy Corbett wrote:

Ok, I need to get my say in on this too ;)

It took me a *week* to get the syntax down and programming in Perl.
Now, I've got a decent amount of experience programming, so YMMV.

Anyway, perl is an absolutely great language.  I kind of shy away from
starting people out with it, because you can pick up some really awful
habits when you program in it -- not checking the bounds on a string is
just fine in perl, but if you do that in C, you'll put a buffer overflow
into your program (read: potential root compromise, depending on what
your program does...).  

Don't let me stop you though.  Just remember that you have to be a
little more anal when you get into your C class ;)

> Of course, it depends on what you'll be using it for.  It's great for
> handy little cgi scripts for a web page, but I've worked at companies
> whose entire business ran on a foundation of perl scripts.

Frankly, perl is another language you can do *anything* with.  I've used
it to do automated ftp transfers, fix my spooling system, I use an IRC
bot written in perl (perlbot, which you can write `plugins' for), and a
million other uses.  Plus, life is made so much easier by perl modules;
I better not start on those, but when you get into the language you too
will learn to love them and the CPAN.

> I would suggest getting the Camel book and Learning Perl, both published

Learning Perl is a wonderful book.  It's what I got started with and it
does a great job introducing the language.

> Anyway, if the job does not require that you are already proficient in
> perl and is offering to let you learn on the job, I think that's
> great!  Opportunities like that are rare.  Usually they want you to have 5
> years of experience in a product that's only been out for 3.  I'd probably
> grab it.

If they will let you learn on the job, definately go for it. 

-- 
Jeff
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