Two in-depth articles for developers and open source enthusiasts

[40hz]

Once again the folks over at Heise Online have come through with two articles of interest to developers and open source enthusiasts.

The first is an interesting look at the state of the Perl language The second addresses issues surrounding Open Office and related spin-offs.The articles have the metatitle of Healthcheck, and it appears Heise will be doing more of them down the road.

Excellent reading. Check them both out

Healthcheck: Perl - The Perl Future (12.01.2009, djwm)

In our first Healthcheck, Piers Cawley explains how Perl is more than just the language of one liners and why Perl is in rude health

http://www.heise-online.co.uk/open/Healthcheck-Perl-The-Perl-Future--/features/112388

   
Healthcheck: OpenOffice (29.01.2009, trk)
   
Open Office has come a long way since Sun Microsystems purchased StarOffice in 1999, is Sun's tight grasp on the code base gradually draining the life from the open source MS Office alternative?

http://www.heise-online.co.uk/open/Healthcheck-OpenOffice--/features/112512

[bgd77]

Thanks, 40Hz! So I haven't learned Perl for nothing. 

[40hz]

Thanks, 40Hz! So I haven't learned Perl for nothing. 

Hope not. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with Perl. It's a rather elegant tool in the right hands.

Much like "tequila and handguns," it's the way it sometimes gets used that people take issue with.

[cranioscopical]

Much like "tequila and handguns," it's the way it sometimes gets used that people take issue with.

So your advice for those wondering about Perl would be to take a shot?

[bgd77]

Where I work almost everybody sees Perl as a "dead" project. And, since I am the only one with some Perl skills, I kind of take it personal.   

Much like "tequila and handguns," it's the way it sometimes gets used that people take issue with.

I thought that it is something related with the language itself. You probably refer to the fact that unreadable code can be created with it, right?

So your advice for those wondering about Perl would be to take a shot?

I already too a shot, I think I need another one. 

[Darwin]

Thanks for the links, 40hz. I was particularly interested by the discussion/history of OpenOffice. Good read, and it makes you think... (ouch!).

[40hz]

You probably refer to the fact that unreadable code can be created with it, right?

You've read me corrrectly.

Of course if you really want to write unreadable code you could always use what I cut my coding teeth on - APL

APL was once promoted as yet another "last language you'll ever need to learn." It used a bizarre set of symbols for commands, some of which were typed by backspacing and overstriking a previously typed symbol. (What further proof do we need that aliens are living among us?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)

APL made several breakthroughs as a programming language. One of them was that you no longer had to wait a week before you had trouble remembering how your program worked. With APL, you forgot about 20 minutes after you wrote it.

Many times, if you found an error in an APL program, it was easier to write the whole thing over rather than try to edit it.

Here's an example:

[attach]

[cranioscopical]

I think I can see why [6] and [7] caused you to drop to the mat... sheer exhaustion I presume.

[Edvard]

Where I work almost everybody sees Perl as a "dead" project.

Not when I keep seeing almost 30-to-1 ratio in Perl vs. Python jobs in the classifieds and IIRC, it's almost neck-and-neck with C++ and PHP coder jobs.

[ewemoa]

Somewhat related...my local installation of PopupWisdom gave me the following Larry Wall quote today:

Perl is designed to give you several ways to do anything, so consider picking the most readable one.
--In the perl man page

I checked an online version of a perl man page and didn't see it though...

Another reference:

  https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiquote/en/wiki/Larry_Wall

[bgd77]

40Hz, after your example of APL, other languages, such as Perl, C, and even C++ seem to be for little children. Even assembly language is more readable than APL. You really have to be thought guy to write programs in it.

Not when I keep seeing almost 30-to-1 ratio in Perl vs. Python jobs in the classifieds and IIRC, it's almost neck-and-neck with C++ and PHP coder jobs.

Then I guess I must continue my Perl learning journey! 
By the way, what is IIRC?

[ewemoa]

Perhaps https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/IIRC ?

[40hz]

You really have to be thought guy to write programs in it.

You might be right. It does have a passing resemblance to Klingon script doesn't it?

[attach]

[cranioscopical]

You really have to be thought guy to write programs in it.

You might be right. It does have a passing resemblance to Klingon script doesn't it?
(see attachment in previous post)

Sure, because a few proponents still Klingon to it?

[bgd77]

You might be right. It does have a passing resemblance to Klingon script doesn't it?

Yes, it really does! 

[40hz]

One nice thing about Perl is that it lets you be as clever as you want to.

This is an example of functional Perl code courtesy of 99-Bottles-of-Beer.net
It prints out the lyrics to (what else? ) the 99 Bottles of Beer song.

Link: http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/language-perl-737.html

[attach]

[bgd77]

Wow! This is very interesting. Thanks, 40Hz!

[bgd77]

Two funny quotes regarding Perl from a book:
1) "You can create as complex a structure as your sanity, design practices, and computer memory allow. Be kind to the person who might have to manage your code-please keep it as simple as possible. On the other hand, if you are just trying to impress someone with your coding ability, Perl gives you a lot of opportunity to mystify yourself and improve your social life."
2) print "\n"; # The obligatory output beautifier.