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Looking for ideas

by Anonymous Monk
on Mar 12, 2002 at 19:30 UTC ( [id://151200]=perlquestion: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I'm a webmaster looking for uses for Perl. I use Perl for CGI scripting mostly, but recently I've run out of reasons for using Perl. Part of the problem is that I don't administer the Unix machine I am on. Its software is not up to date. But I try to make do with what I have. I don't have access to any databases. I want to learn as much Perl as I can, but I can't imagine uses for it. I've tried coming up with log reports (stats, errors, etc) but that didn't work out (the logs are too big for multiple reasons, such as webmail and roaming profiles). I know that the best way to learn a language is to practice it. I've even looked at merlyn's (terrific) Web columns, but those didn't help either. I am not exactly in a production environment. Any ideas about what I could use Perl for?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Looking for ideas
by Maestro_007 (Hermit) on Mar 12, 2002 at 19:52 UTC
    The first thing I did when I had that problem was to try to write games. I taught myself basic principles of OOP while writing Tetris in C++. I used someone else's (sprite) rendering engine, allowing me to focus purely on the object interaction part of it. I attribute that to most of my success as a programmer.

    I'd say to start with something simple, like a web-based word-guessing game, where you set a goal to learn one thing (like, say, what are all the semantics involved in the differences between GET and POST), and go from there. You could also try Yahtzee (just with text), or something like that.

    Another way I helped myself to learn was by writing test code for my other code. You actually have a great opportunity with your web site: teach yourself LWP and Test::Harness, by writing tests against your web site, looking for broken links.

    Hope this isn't too didactic or obvious, it's what worked for me, and for the (older) kids in my neighborhood who asked the same question...

    Good luck!

    MM

Re: Looking for ideas
by ignatz (Vicar) on Mar 12, 2002 at 20:15 UTC
    What you need is a Muse. The worse place to find one is sitting in front of a computer. My advice is that of Maude in the classic tale Harold and Maude: take up a musical instrument. Don't return to your computer until you have a good reason to.
    ()-()                                                      ()-()
     \"/    DON'T   BLAME   ME,   I  VOTED   FOR    PACO!       \"/
      `                                                          ` 
    
Re: Looking for ideas
by cacharbe (Curate) on Mar 12, 2002 at 19:42 UTC
    If you are just looking for things to do, look here, otherwise, I think that the question you are asking is so broad that I don't know if there is an Answertm. I do know that we all use perl for an innumerable set of tasks. From generating complete web sites, parsing web logs, interfacing with Windows Objects, remote websites, maintaining databases, working on the human genome, parsing text books, etc, etc, etc.

    C-.

Re: Looking for ideas
by derby (Abbot) on Mar 12, 2002 at 19:47 UTC
    AM,

    Rather than us trying to figure out what you can do with perl, why don't you describe an everyday task or two that you're unhappy with. Maybe they take a long time to run or you have to kick off two or more shell scripts to get one piece of output or there's too much manual intervention.

    That's pretty much how I started in perl - converting shell scripts that took hours to run. For instance, how do you do your log reports now? Are they too big file size wise or do you think it's too big of a task for you to handle right now? Maybe you could start be doing a more simplistic log report. That would give you a feel for perl and if you did it right, it could be easily expanded (but don't worry about that too much 'cuz it's always hard to do right off the bat).

    -derby

Re: Looking for ideas
by webadept (Pilgrim) on Mar 12, 2002 at 22:17 UTC
    If I'm just trying to "Find something to do" or "Spark an Interest", generally I start with the CPAN Module List . There is a whole list of "ideas" which in the terms of modules are rather general in nature.

    Just start playing the game of "How can I use this module on a web page" and go from there. For instance, there is a new module listed on monks today called translate which is a perl interface to the babel fish site. Have a CGI program translate your web pages into various languages.

    Don't ever stop having fun, that's the key.

    Glenn H.
Re: Looking for ideas
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 12, 2002 at 21:47 UTC
    Thanks everyone!

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