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Old 04-13-2004, 10:56 AM   #1
linuxlover1
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Question Perl or Python !


Hello everybody !!
My main question is :
Should i learn Perl or Python ? I currently know basic and pascal , whats the best choise ?
I can not decide....I've tryied to study perl and python , to start learn one of the two, but both seems powerful !
Is there any Perl/Python GUI IDE ?
Perl/Python are scripting languages...so compilation is not needed ? How the source code is protected from not copyied by others claiming the owners ??

Thx very much !
 
Old 04-13-2004, 11:24 AM   #2
rshaw
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here's eric raymond's thoughts on the two. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=3882
as for ide's there is blackadder, and eric for full blown gui development, idle, which comes with python, and most text editors have a python syntax highlight mode.
 
Old 04-14-2004, 12:02 AM   #3
johnMG
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> How the source code is protected from not copyied by others claiming the owners ??

In practice, if your code is sophisticated enough that some company would want to hijack it and claim it as their own, chances are that it will have been in development by you and a number of other developers for quite some time; there would be mailing list logs, archives of previous source trees, and somewhat of a community of developers behind it. In that case, your code will already be all over the net like pee in a pool -- source, build scripts, everything. Not very lucrative for a company to try and sell nearly functionally equivalent software when a free version is available on the net.

Also, if it's GPL'd, they likely wouldn't go near it (that is, to hijack it) with a 10-foot pole. Too easy to get sued. :) The GPL is like armour to keep your source code free.

Now, if your project were to choose a license more lenient on companies interested in using it -- like say, the MIT license -- they can take your code, modify it, and sell it (with their modifications) keeping their modified source code tree private. If you don't mind them doing that with your code, that's another story.

Oh, Perl or Python? I guess it depends on what you want to eventually do with it. Spend a few days with each and you'll figure out which you like better. You might also look at ruby.

Last edited by johnMG; 04-14-2004 at 12:08 AM.
 
Old 04-14-2004, 06:31 AM   #4
Komakino
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Perl!
 
Old 04-15-2004, 10:31 AM   #5
krdp
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Python www.python.org for more info
 
Old 04-15-2004, 01:42 PM   #6
Komakino
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I think perl is more useful...name one thing Python can do that Perl can't. Now name many things that Perl can do that Python can't. No contest
 
Old 04-15-2004, 03:53 PM   #7
Tinkster
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Quote:
Originally posted by Komakino
I think perl is more useful...name one thing Python can do that Perl can't. Now name many things that Perl can do that Python can't. No contest :)
So you haven't read Eric's article that rshaw's post
pointed to .... :)



Cheers,
Tink
 
Old 04-15-2004, 07:36 PM   #8
Komakino
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tinkster
So you haven't read Eric's article that rshaw's post
pointed to ....



Cheers,
Tink
Yes, question is: have you?

He first started to feel perl was not up to the task in 1997...hmmm, so we're not comparing the latest release of Perl then?
" I had seen GUI code in Perl, and it was a spiky mixture of Perl and Tcl that looked even uglier than my own pure-Perl code." - so don't use TCL? Perl::Gtk is wonderful to great GUI's quickly and efficiently.

That article is essentially one man's (outdated) attempts at using perl badly. And it still doesn't answer my question: Name one thing Python can do that perl cannot.

No, actually forget it. This will turn into a flame fest. Let's all take a deep breath, have a cup of tea and talk about the merits of Eiffel
 
Old 04-15-2004, 08:42 PM   #9
Tinkster
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Quote:
Yes, question is: have you?
I did, indeed, and also a whole lot of the follow-ups.


Quote:
That article is essentially one man's (outdated) attempts at using perl badly.
Eric is an old-time hacker, he DESIGNES programming
languages. The fact that the article is close to 4 years old
doesn't make it less valid... the process of "improving
things over years" can also be interpreted as adding
cruft. I've seen a few perl-oldtimers complain about
recent additions.

And what justifies your statement that he attempts
to use perl badly? Did you look at his references to
his own perl code? Much room for improvement?



Quote:
No, actually forget it. This will turn into a flame fest. Let's all take a deep breath, have a cup of tea and talk about the merits of Eiffel
That's Forth, mate, forth is the only way to go!

:D


Cheers,
Tink
 
Old 04-16-2004, 12:00 PM   #10
Strike
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Python.

See this thread for reasons why Perl is bad.

Oh, and Python can do everything Perl can and vice-versa. That whole argument is rubbish. It's a matter of how EASY and WELL it is to do those things that distinguishes a language from others.
 
Old 04-17-2004, 08:58 PM   #11
rob.rice
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uh Fortran
 
Old 04-17-2004, 11:19 PM   #12
johnMG
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What do you think of ruby?
 
Old 04-19-2004, 01:45 AM   #13
minMUNCH
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Non CS perspective

I'm a ChemE grad student and, as such, programming is currently not a strong suit of mine but I foresee a lot of it in the future. I can hack some C, C++, and a little Fortran to get some numerical tasks done...that's about it.

I decide a little while back to learn a scripting language so I picked up books on Perl5, python, and C# (since Mono is going well on Linux) with the intention of learning one and maybe putting another in my back pocket as well.

Perl5 seemed to me to be rather complicated and somewhat bizarre while python seemed very familar to me right off the bat, since I had some C experience, but also because it seems to follow the idea of "least supprise" meaning that functions and way the language works seems highly logical and consistent making it much easier to learn and remember.

I also like C# but that is another story and it will probably be my 2nd fiddle scripting language. I think with the Mono project, C# will become a very powerful language for linux development with the capability to run on as well windows... some of my programs will have to run on windows.

As you can guess, I dropped Perl after about a month of learning time...not a bad language for it's time ( I reckon ) but it has superceded by better languages...it the way of the programming world.

Java, too (I think), is going to end up second fiddle before long to either Python or C#.
 
Old 04-19-2004, 07:33 AM   #14
kooch
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My only problem with C# and the .NET platform is that there is no classic linker. If you want anyone to be able to download your program and use it they must also download a 22mb runtime(it includes the compiler!).

My only answer to what programming language should I use is 'Whatever fits the job best'. But I would suspect that for a beginner that Python syntax will be much more clear than Perl syntax.

ESR is a bit of a tool, I would take anything he says with a grain of salt unless it's regarding technical aspects pertaining specifically to his software.
 
  


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