>Does the attempt to provide a Berlitz-phrase-book mapping across really >different languages do more harm than good, or is it a reasonable foot >in the door for beginners?
I think it's a reasonable gauge for beginners to estimate the usefulness of the language for different tasks. If I am familiar with language x and I see examples in it that I feel are well done, focusing on a specific task, and then I see examples in language y which I am not familiar with, but it does the task in less code, and the code is understandable to me despite my unfamiliarity then I am likely to conclude that language y is a good tool for that particular type of task. If that task is one I am likely to be involved with frequently, then I am likely to want to investigate language y. If the languages are too similar I would probably say "ehh, that I already got." -- To unsubscribe from this list, just send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the subject.
