PERL vs. Ruby

[Ralph H. Stoos Jr.]

All,

I have taken a company sponsored course in PERL taught by a fellow
system engineer. He tried his best but, I am still an old dog and
well.. that new tricks thing seems to apply.

It seems that all courses I find assume you have other programming
experience either in C, C++, or Java. Since I have none of these
skills, I am hoping to somehow pick up an OOP language.

So, I have folks recommending Ruby over PERL as a good language on which
to cut my coding teeth.

Any opinions on the subject would be appreciated.


Please reply to the newsgroup and also to (e-mail address removed) so I
can get it right away. The next "intermediate" course starts in three
days. I will attend it regardless but, would like to know if this is
the best way to go for my first foray into programming.

Thanks a lot,

Ralph

 

[kj]

I'd go for Python if I were you.

Why do you prefer Python over Ruby?

kj

 

[ChrisO]

All,

I have taken a company sponsored course in PERL taught by a fellow
system engineer. He tried his best but, I am still an old dog and
well.. that new tricks thing seems to apply.

It seems that all courses I find assume you have other programming
experience either in C, C++, or Java. Since I have none of these
skills, I am hoping to somehow pick up an OOP language.

So, I have folks recommending Ruby over PERL as a good language on which
to cut my coding teeth.

Any opinions on the subject would be appreciated.

Well, this is certainly my opinion, but... I wouldn't recommend Ruby
based on what you've described. If you are having a difficult time with
Perl, then Ruby is only going to be that much worse for you more than
likely. The paradigm in Ruby is a bit different IMO.

The *reason* most languages "assume" you have experience with another
language is because at the root, developing in ANY language requires
some grasping of fundamental concepts which factor into your successful
use of whatever language you are currently considering. It's just that
in order to do that, you have to dive in with ONE of them. But I would
not recommend Ruby for this.

Nor would I recommend Perl as a starting place for learning the craft of
development either. A lot of schools and universities teach Java as an
introductory course, I think. Maybe start there? Bruce Eckel also has
some introductory "Thinking In C++" and "Thinking In Java" free on the
Web which you can download and read.

And don't learn PERL from ANYONE!! If they are going to teach you PERL,
then politely decline. Only accept if they are going to teach you Perl.
You may think I'm being funny, but someone who volunteers to teach you
PERL more than likely isn't going to teach you Perl.

But feel free to come back here with legitimate questions in Perl if you
want. Just don't post to comp.misc.perl; it doesn't exist!

-ceo