perl better than python for users with disabilities?

[Dan Jacobson]

Can I feel even better about using perl vs. python, as apparently
python's dependence of formatting, indentation, etc. vs. perl's
"(){};" etc. makes writing python programs perhaps very device
dependent. Whereas perl can be written on a tiny tiny screen, and can
withstand all kinds of users with various disabilities, etc.?
Also perl is easier to squeeze into makefiles.

 

[Martin P. Hellwig]

Can I feel even better about using perl vs. python, as apparently
python's dependence of formatting, indentation, etc. vs. perl's
"(){};" etc. makes writing python programs perhaps very device
dependent. Whereas perl can be written on a tiny tiny screen, and can
withstand all kinds of users with various disabilities, etc.?
Also perl is easier to squeeze into makefiles.

Quite punny title though I assume you are really serious and mean people
with a physical disability, I won't comment any further on this subject
, if I already offended anyone, please excuse me, since I'm original
from Germany I'm not supposed to be funny.

 

[Thomas Ploch]

Quite punny title though I assume you are really serious and mean people
with a physical disability, I won't comment any further on this subject
, if I already offended anyone, please excuse me, since I'm original
from Germany I'm not supposed to be funny.

Argh, I am writing to President Horst Köhler to take away your German
citizenship. You _need_ to stay true to German attributes (like not
being funny, what you have been...)! This is the last warning!

:-D

Regarding the topic:

I can't see where Perl should be more accessible than Python.

Thomas

 

[Georg Brandl]

Argh, I am writing to President Horst Köhler to take away your German
citizenship. You _need_ to stay true to German attributes (like not
being funny, what you have been...)! This is the last warning!

I don't think he'd have the time for that. I heard he's busy planning
his lawsuit to enforce his claim for more pension.

Regarding the topic:

I can't see where Perl should be more accessible than Python.

Well, not really. But your $, @, %, {, }, ! etc. keys should be
accessible very fast if you want to write Perl.

Georg

 

[johnzenger]

Blind programmers can use braille displays, which let them perceive
indentation as easily as sighted programmers can. http://xrl.us/tydj

As for people with physical disabilities that have trouble typing, a
Python-aware editor does the identation for you, so all you have to do
is type a colon and an enter, then a backspace when you are done being
indented.

But it's an interesting question, and I'd like to hear from blind
programmers about how program language design can make their lives
easier or more difficult.

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

Can I feel even better about using perl vs. python, as apparently
python's dependence of formatting, indentation, etc. vs. perl's
"(){};" etc. makes writing python programs perhaps very device
dependent.

I can't think of what sort of computer device you are thinking of that
can't handle indented text. Wait -- my old HP-48C programmable calculator
perhaps?

As for perl and () {} etc, I would have thought that for anyone with poor
eyesight, or using a tiny screen, they would be difficult to tell apart.

Whereas perl can be written on a tiny tiny screen, and can
withstand all kinds of users with various disabilities, etc.?

"Withstand all kinds of users"? I can't imagine what you mean by that.

Also perl is easier to squeeze into makefiles.

Perhaps you are right. In eight years of writing Python code, I've never
once needed to squeeze Python into a makefile, so I don't know how hard it
will be.

 

[nnorwitz]

Can I feel even better about using perl vs. python, as apparently
python's dependence of formatting, indentation, etc. vs. perl's
"(){};" etc. makes writing python programs perhaps very device
dependent. Whereas perl can be written on a tiny tiny screen, and can
withstand all kinds of users with various disabilities, etc.?
Also perl is easier to squeeze into makefiles.

My esteemed colleague does not agree.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/finding-easy-to-read-web-content_20.html

Reposted with permission:

"""
As for programming in Python while not being able to see, I think
it comes down to the tools you have to do it with.

When in Grad School, all I had was a screenreader, and I stayed
away from python because of the whitespace having semantics
problem. However once i wrote emacspeak, and speech-enabled Barry
Warsaw's python-mode, programming in python has always been a
pleasure -- and the paucity of delimiters actually makes the code
more speakable.
"""

n