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Re: Barewords equal zero?

by Cody Pendant (Prior)
on Feb 14, 2008 at 01:54 UTC ( [id://667863]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Barewords equal zero?

Just for the record, I don't teach using any IDE.

I teach using Text-Edit and the command line.

And I didn't teach them to use strict and warnings in the very first class, because, despite the fact that I know all about them and use them all the time, that was simply too much information.

We're talking about people who did not know what the command line is, and every mistake they made was at such a basic level that compile failed. Using "Print" instead of "print", getting quotes, brackets, commas wrong, not knowing what a semicolon looks like, etc., seriously. I'm almost proud that someone got made a mistake so minimal as an O instead of a zero. Most of the time they couldn't remember which window was the script and which window was the Terminal.

Fun.



Nobody says perl looks like line-noise any more
kids today don't know what line-noise IS ...

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Re^2: Barewords equal zero?
by McDarren (Abbot) on Feb 18, 2008 at 05:39 UTC
    "And I didn't teach them to use strict and warnings in the very first class, because, despite the fact that I know all about them and use them all the time, that was simply too much information."

    I still remember my very first Perl "lesson". The very first thing I was told was:

    "Every Perl program you ever write will contain the lines use strict; and use warnings;. Do not ask why, just accept this for now and do it".

    I'm so glad I was told this, and I think that anyone that is just starting out learning Perl and is not being told this is being done a dis-service.

    So I disagree with you. It is not too much information at all. It is probably one of the most vital bits of information a newcomer needs, and definitely should be included in the first lesson.

    Note that I'm not advocating that you try to explain why strictures and warnings are useful, or when they could be avoided. This would definitely be too much information. People can find this out for themselves at a later stage. What's most important is to get them into good habits right from the start. Where strictures are concerned, I'd say it's a case of "Use them because I tell you to. When you've learned enough to understand why they are useful, then you can decide for yourself."

    Cheers,
    Darren :)

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