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Re^3: Perl quiz for beginners

by ww (Archbishop)
on Sep 09, 2011 at 11:38 UTC ( [id://925065]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Re^2: Perl quiz for beginners
in thread Perl quiz for beginners

"Check Wikipedia or any good universities documents. It will be there."
NO!

Not because I care all that much about the specific issue -- whether the name has some specific acronymic meaning, but rather, because you're suggesting that seconday (and very possibly inaccurate) resources should be grounds for ignoring a primary resource, such as Larry Wall's own remarks.

Now, I'll grant that I've not found (in the archives of comp.lang.perl.misc) a statement signed by Wall, nor audio or video of Wall disputing the notion that "perl" or "Perl" is an acronym, nor have I ever had occasion to ask timtoady 'what's the fact?' but the assertions of numerous Perl pioneers (including a good many Monks of Great Tenure; merlyn, tilly (see [Re^5: perl not omnipotent? let's see!), petdance....) are, to me, far more persuasive than sources such as wiki, CS departs at .edus, etc.

Likewise, IMO, the widely reported story that a witty writer invented a backronym to explain his name choice (or as a joke) seems more plausible than that he departed so radically from the common use of

  • pedestrian acronyms (COBOL, BASIC, etc.),
  • personal initials (awk, for example)
  • or personal names with historic CS significance (ADA)
as denominators for computer languages.

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