But if I were using this example to wave at Java coders to convince them that Perl will save them grief, I would make it even more verbose, lest it reenforce a notion that Perl is overly cryptic. Past a point, "Look how small we can do this with Perl!" becomes a negative. Instead, present Java programmers with something more familiar.

I agree with your sentiment. However, I want to play devils advocate for a moment... This node stemmed from a conversation I had with a professor of mine a few weeks ago, where he was touting the value of languages like Java, due to the fact that they were easy to do maintenance coding for. I vehemently disagreed with him (I am currently doing maintenance java coding...) as I feel that one of the biggest problems with languages such as Java is that the *idioms* of the language do now allow for elegant expression of algorithms without a very liberal propegation of metasyntactic variables.

So, I wrote this particular example in the most idiomatic Perl I knew how. This is my logic: Average Java programmers will program average Java idioms with an average level of skill. The companion to that is that average *Perl* programmers will program average Perl idioms with an average level of skill. What I wanted to show was that with a comparable level of skill between Java and Perl, using the idioms that were native to average programmers of *both* environments, the resulting idiomatic Perl code would be easier to maintain (from a cognitive psychology standpoint, as well as the other "benefits.")

I feel that I am, at best, an "average" perl developer, and when I read the problem description on the Java page, the exact idiom that came to mind was the one I put down on paper... as a matter of fact, I had considered asking either maverick or jeffa, who are considerably better Perl programmers than myself, for a good idea as to how to make it shorter. I fortunately quickly realized that asking wizards for help, in attempting to create a compelling example as to how the average coder would fare... was a bit of an improper turn of logic on my part!

In closing... were I trying to win over Java developers, I think I would have done something more along the lines of what you very elegantly suggest. However, I am past a point in my life where I want to win language wars, and proselytize and convert the lost :) I was more interested in showing how an "average" developer with an "average" skillset, would probably fare better in Perl...

Thx for the comment, btw...

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