Re: "Native Perlish"

OTOH, there's a lot of "overcompensating" going on in Perl code, especially in forums like this in comp.lang.perl.misc. What I mean is things like using complicated code to avoid a warning, where it would have been easier to turn of warnings (or strict). Or to use several lines of Perl code (or an entire module) to avoid having to use system or backticks.

You might want to say that someone using

    system cp => $from, $to and die "Eeps";
[download]

comes from a shell background and has just learned Perl from a (bad) book. But it might also be someone with 20 years of Unix experience, and 8 years of Perl experience who's just using the toolkit concept and can't be bothered with using a module. (Wait, that sounds like me).

I do use system more than I really, really have to, I've never used File::Find (or is it Find::File), prefering to read from a find pipe instead, I do use for (my $i = 0; $i < @arr; $i ++) even if I could use for my $i (0 .. $#arr) instead, and more "tell tale" signs of coming from a different background.

I think that Perl more than most other languages allow a programmer to keep using his/her unique, or carried over, style. That is, IMO, one of the good things of Perl.

To quote Geoff Gerrietts, in comp.lang.perl.misc article of 26 July 1996: Perl lays down like a wanton woman and lets me have my way with her.

Abigail

Comment on Re: "Native Perlish" Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Re: "Native Perlish" by Jenda (Abbot) on Mar 26, 2003 at 16:29 UTC
I'm sure anyone who'd have to port your code to Windows (or VMS or Mac-pre-OSX or ...) would love you for this. Jenda Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live. -- Rick Osborne Edit by castaway: Closed small tag in signature	[reply]
Re: "Native Perlish" by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Mar 26, 2003 at 21:43 UTC
I've never worked in a place were there was the smallest chance one of my Perl programs needed to be ported to Windows or any other non-Unix platform. However, I've written large shell scripts on Solaris that needed to be ported to both Windows NT and to HP-UX. The port to Windows was trivial. One directory needed to be renamed, and we installed a Unix tools package on Windows (I think it was MKS). Porting to HP-UX was actually more work. Generally, I don't give a rats ass whether my programs can be easily ported to Windows or not. If you want to cripple yourself running on that platform, be my guest. Don't expect any pity or help from me. I'm a toolsmith. I write tools, usually highly specialized tools. Needing to do one particular job, on a particular platform. Portability to non-Unix platforms usually is a non-issue. Besides, there are Unix toolkits for non-Unix systems available. Install them, and your platform will become better. Abigail	[reply]
Re: Re: "Native Perlish" by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Mar 26, 2003 at 22:05 UTC
Sorry Abigail, but I just have to ask this:) Excluding simple "it doesn't work the way unix works" examples, can you give one or two ways in which I am crippling myself by using NT rather than (one of the incomprehensibly myriad versions of) unix? Examine what is said, not who speaks. 1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. 2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible 3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke.	[reply]
Re: "Native Perlish" by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Mar 26, 2003 at 22:27 UTC
Re: Re: "Native Perlish" by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Mar 27, 2003 at 03:21 UTC
Re: Re: "Native Perlish" by Anonymous Monk on Mar 27, 2003 at 02:30 UTC
To quote Geoff Gerrietts, in comp.lang.perl.misc article of 26 July 1996: Perl lays down like a wanton woman and lets me have my way with her. Some quotes you just can't get rid of.	[reply]


laziness, impatience, and hubris
	PerlMonks