On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 7:06 PM, Ludwig Isaac Lim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Part of my job right now to maintain scripts written using Perl. I find > learning "advanced" > concepts like modules and objects a bit difficult (Ok, I might be subjective > due to the fact that > I need to learn it a short time).
Awesome, another Perl newbie! :) Yeah, that's pretty subjective ;) Have you read through perlmod, perlboot, perltoot, and perltooc in perldoc? perlboot is especially treated for OO beginners and the like. > I feel that maintaining Perl programs can be a tedious task (One thing I > dislike about > TMTOWTDI). Learning it can be a quite difficult too, given the myriad > notations. This is comparing > to other languages I've used such as PHP, C++ [I'm not that familiar with > templates, but I managed > to learn STL in a relatively short time as compared to some features in Perl] Yeah, TMTOWDI is a double-edged sword; if used wrongly it can lead to too many reinventions of the wheel. Fortunately, although it is strongly associated with Perl, it is also true with all other languages as well. I know the feeling of coming from C++ to learn Perl. Perl doesn't have the same notion of objects as C++ does (since it lacks the type system of C) but you can try learning Moose for an alternative object system (Moose is actually an extension of Perl's object system carrying over the observations made in Perl 6; search the CPAN for it.) > Too bad there's no "Intermediate Perl" available in China (I'm in China). > I find learning Perl > a bit difficult using the "Camel" book. I've also looked at > http://perldoc.perl.org/ but I find > learning via web difficult as compared to learning via reading a book. I learned my Perl from the Camel, but I didn't read it like a book, since it was originally from the perldoc available in the first release of Perl 5.000. I recommend you do the same: focus on a chapter or two, and don't try reading from end-to-end. > But maybe my difficulty is maybe due to lack of time and work load. > > Is learning advanced features of Perl this difficult? Thoughts? Frankly, yes. But so does learning advanced features of other languages, especially if you have a mindset coming from a previous language already. I myself am busy learning Ruby, coming from Perl, and I still have to wrap my head with it, but thankfully "The Ruby Way" by Hal Fulton is pretty much written in the same style as the Camel, so I'll probably get to grips with Ruby's advanced features soon enough. > <Misc> > Sometimes I find it amazing that some people in this list can have > mastery of complicated > programming language such as Perl given the fact there's a HORRIBLE shortage > of computer books in > the Philippines. Seems that the number of computer books in Philippine > bookstores are DECREASING > each year. Feel appalled about it.... > </Misc> I don't really see it decreasing; rather I see the same books on the shelves for several years already, even when some of them are pretty much obsolete already. Still, some old texts give useful bits that we take for granted now in daily work. -- Zak B. Elep || http://zakame.spunge.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] || [EMAIL PROTECTED] || [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1486 7957 454D E529 E4F1 F75E 5787 B1FD FA53 851D _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
