Hmmm...ok, on thinking about it, I generally agree with you.
There is only one point that I would debate (and, as you'll see, there's
a solution for that one, too):
On Wed, 16 May 2001, Nathan Torkington wrote:
> Dave Storrs writes:
> > 1) One of the great strengths of Perl is that its learning curve
> > is very shallow but very long. Adding more stuff to the language makes
> > the curve steeper, because you need to hold more in your head as you learn
> > it.
>
> I see those as orthogonal. I can add more to the high end of a
> language that beginners don't need to know.
While it may be true that beginners don't need to use a particular
feature--or even know about it--how will they know that until they have
studied it?
< ACTION = &insert($tongue, $cheek)>
Imagine the following conversation:
JAPH: Here's a list of all the features in Perl. It may look
overwhelming, but don't worry...you don't need to know all of them until
later.
Beginner: GAAAAAAAAAACCCCCKK!!!
< /ACTION>
Actually, something like what Randal was recently talking about,
with the llama (i.e., introduction, small subset, whathaveyou) probably
addresses this concern. We just have to make sure to point everyone at
that document as soon as possible upon their entry into Perl.
Dave
