Re: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background?

in reply to How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background?

Like many of the other replies my main advice is to practice. Unlike some of the other replies I think there can be great advantage into dipping into a University level Computer Science course. If you have the opportunity of attending a few selected papers that deal with subjects like data structures and algorithms you can pick up a few tools that you will use directly or for guidance often. It doesn't matter that the course uses a language other than Perl, most of that information translates well across languages and Perl is pretty good a being what you need it to be.

A lot of those tools and techniques you can pick up just by looking at the vast quantity of code around this site and by asking questions about it. But you will miss the overarching principles that let you use techniques in many different ways. A good computer science course will teach you the philosophy as well as the practice.

Premature optimization is the root of all job security

Comment on Re: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background?

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Re^2: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background? by jmlynesjr (Deacon) on Nov 27, 2016 at 01:29 UTC
In 30+/-years at $work(EE doing realtime software), I found that if I got the data structures correct, the code usually flowed. If not, things got messy fast. Also, read all the code you can from acknowledged Perl experts(for me in the early days this was reading the Data General RDOS and AOS operating system code). Domain knowledge is as important as Perl knowledge(You want to control a power system give me a call, develop a website not your man). James There's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over...	[reply]
Re^3: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background? (Data Structure References) by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on Nov 28, 2016 at 06:54 UTC
> I found that if I got the data structures correct, the code usually flowed. If not, things got messy fast. This reminds me of some famous quotes from Fred Brooks, Rob Pike, Eric S. Raymond, and Linus Torvalds: The programmer at wit's end for lack of space can often do best by disentangling himself from his code, rearing back, and contemplating his data. Representation is the essence of programming. -- from The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks Data dominates. If you've chosen the right data structures and organized things well, the algorithms will almost always be self-evident. Data structures, not algorithms, are central to programming. -- Rob Pike Show me your code and conceal your data structures, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your data structures, and I won't usually need your code; it'll be obvious. -- Eric S. Raymond I will, in fact, claim that the difference between a bad programmer and a good one is whether he considers his code or his data structures more important. Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships. -- Linus Torvalds A few classic performance quotes: Don't diddle code to make it faster -- find a better algorithm. -- The Elements of Programming Style Don’t Optimize Code -- Benchmark It. -- from Ten Essential Development Practices by Damian Conway The real problem is that programmers have spent far too much time worrying about efficiency in the wrong places and at the wrong times; premature optimization is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming. -- Donald Knuth Perl Data Structure References perldsc - Perl Data Structures Cookbook perlreftut - Perl References Tutorial perlref - Perl References perldata - Perl Data Types perllol - Arrays of arrays in Perl perlobj - Perl objects Storable - Persistence for Perl Data Structures Tie::Hash - base class definitions for tied hashes YAML - YAML Ain't Markup Language JSON - JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) encoder/decoder JSON::MaybeXS - Use `Cpanel::JSON::XS` with a fallback to `JSON::XS` and `JSON::PP` TOML - Parser for Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language TOML Spec (github) Sereal - Fast, compact, powerful binary (de-)serialization SerealX::Store - Sereal based persistence for Perl data structures Config::Any - Load configuration from different file formats, transparently Config::Tiny - Read/Write .ini style files with as little code as possible Config::INI - simple .ini-file format SQLite (wikipedia) DBI and one of the many `DBD::` modules DBD::SQLite feature - note that Perl 5.34+ allows you to disable old Perl 4 multidimensional array emulation via the 'multidimensional' feature perl 5.36 delta - ... and that `use v5.36;` disables multidimensional array emulation Data::Dumper - stringified perl data structures, suitable for both printing and eval Data::Dump - Pretty printing of data structures App::FatPacker Re: How to make distribution for simple script with CPAN dependencies? by 1nickt (2024) Re: access object values by kcott (2023) - displaying/debugging Perl data structures and references Re: Why can't some of my modules do log output to a file? by haukex (2022) - example of turning on Data::Dumper's `Useqq` option Memory efficient way to deal with really large arrays? by sectokia (2020) Re: Memory efficient way to deal with really large arrays? by Tux (2020) - Perl benchmarked faster than every database tried (SQLite, Pg, mysql, MariaDB) Multidimensional arrays by Bod (2023) - asking for advice on which Perl data structure to use Re^2: A good way to input data into a script w/o an SQL database by ObiPanda (2023) - asking about code vs data in a script How can I send a "transposed slice" of an array of hashes and by extension an array of arrays, or hash of hashes to a subroutine by ObiPanda (2023) - ... continued Storable for user preferences by Bod (2023) Re: Storable for user preferences by afoken (2023) using TIEHASH as wrapper/proxy, while avoiding recursion and warnings by LanX (2024) - using Tie::Hash as a temporary wrapper Modules as configuration files by Discipulus (2015) Preserve the order in JSON by user786 (2015) Build and Test Automation References* Perl CPAN test metadata by me (2010) Data-driven Programming: fun with Perl, JSON, YAML, XML... by me (2015) Database References Database References EAV (wikipedia) See Also List Utils References Updated: added "Perl Data Structure References" section. Added a few classic performance quotes.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background? by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Nov 29, 2016 at 03:04 UTC
I knew the Raymond quote because it’s used as a chapter intro in some Perl book or another. I didn’t know the others. Good to see them.	[reply]
Re^4: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background? by jmlynesjr (Deacon) on Nov 29, 2016 at 01:48 UTC
Great quotes! "The Mythical Man Month" should be required reading. James There's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over...	[reply]
Re^2: How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background? by GotToBTru (Prior) on Nov 25, 2016 at 23:06 UTC
Another advantage of a formal course is breadth of coverage. Learning only what you need to know at any given moment can provide a nice deep dive into that particular topic with the motivation that comes from being able to immediately apply it. For example, I know next to nothing about frameworks and CGI, because I've never had to learn it. I'd bet most Perl courses would cover them because that's a large part of what Perl is used for. Just not by me. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NASB)	[reply]

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