Re:Is Perl Difficult?
by pmorici on Tuesday July 08, 2008 @06:50PM
(#240473)
Every time I look at Perl code I always go away pissed of for one of two reasons. A) The person that wrote the code did something super hackish and non-sesical which I attribute to the low quality of the language itself. B) I look at things like %, $ and @ and wonder why the hell I have to tell it what the variable type is. And don't even get me started on things like "Chomp" who's behavior changes depending on the value of some cryptic global variable $_\ @%#@#@^$&$*#%&@!
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The person that wrote the code did something super hackish and non-sesical which I attribute to the low quality of the language itself.
The language is only half of it, the other half is the culture. If you write Perl that uses an obscure (and perhaps undocumented/unintentional) feature to accomplish some relatively straightforward task, other Perl programmers will worship you as a God. The language and the culture are mutually reinforcing. Ruby is going this way as well.
Python language and culture both place a premium on doing things the simplest and most explicit way you can. Over the long run, the culture makes the biggest difference.