Russel Quong's "Perl in 20 pages"

[Mister.Fred.Ma]

Does anyone know where the latest version can be found? A cached
version of Document version 2001a is available at
http://tinyurl.com/h6c7d
(http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache...st.vwh.net/perlin20/&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=1).
It's the latest I can find, but the server hosting the original is not
available. I haven't seen recent references to the document on Google
or Groups. Thanks.

 

[Tad McClellan]

Does anyone know where the latest version can be found? A cached
version of Document version 2001a is available at
http://tinyurl.com/h6c7d

It says:

To Perl, lists and arrays are identical

while the Perl FAQ says:

What is the difference between a list and an array?


I would tend to believe the FAQ.

 

[Paul Lalli]

Does anyone know where the latest version can be found? A cached
version of Document version 2001a is available at
http://tinyurl.com/h6c7d
(http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache...st.vwh.net/perlin20/&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=1).
It's the latest I can find, but the server hosting the original is not
available. I haven't seen recent references to the document on Google
or Groups. Thanks.

Why would you want to use this? A cursory examination of the document
shows:
inconsistent usage of strict and warnings
inconsistent indentation
using terms "list" and "array" interchangably (Claiming that the
documentation does as well - when clearly the author has not grasped
the distinction between the terms)
Using bareword filehandles
Not checking return values of open()
Recommendations for C-Style for loops, with no mention of `for my $i
(0..$#array) { } `
Stating that undef has the "value" of the empty string
Using prototypes on subroutines
Using the English module without the '-no_match_vars' protector

..... at that point I stopped reading. Please don't use this document
to learn Perl. Please?

Paul Lalli

 

[Uri Guttman]

MFM> Does anyone know where the latest version can be found? A cached
MFM> version of Document version 2001a is available at
MFM> http://tinyurl.com/h6c7d
MFM> (http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache...st.vwh.net/perlin20/&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=1).
MFM> It's the latest I can find, but the server hosting the original is not
MFM> available. I haven't seen recent references to the document on Google
MFM> or Groups. Thanks.

i love reading bad perl web tutes. this is as bad as they get. this
paragraph alone highlights the total confusion of the author. could he
have used any more hash synonyms?

A hash variable stores a array of (key, value) pairs,
collectively known as a map. Typically, the key and value are
different but related values, such as a person's name and phone
number. A hash is implemented in Perl so that you can quickly
look up the value given the key, when there are many (key,
value) pairs. From a algorithms/data structures standpoint, a
Perl hash implements a dictionary, mostly likely using a hash
table.

wow.

we do need to make a bad perl web tute site with links and reviews. in
my copious free time i will do this.

uri

 

[David Squire]

It now includes a comparison w/Python too - as a bonus ...
http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.12.20.165434.32.html

Hey! That's off-topic here. It's about some language called 'Pearl'


DS

 

[Paul Lalli]

Thus spoke (e-mail address removed) (on 2006-09-21 13:06):


Ths has been updated lately and is now available
in a *much* *much* better Version, *2.0* I'd guess.

It now includes a comparison w/Python too - as a bonus ...
http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.12.20.165434.32.html

That's *better*? Well, it's updated certainly, but it's still rife
with errors, misleading statements, and bias. I sincerely hope no
one's trying to learn either Perl or Python from drivel like this...

Paul Lalli

 

[Emmanuel Florac]

Le Thu, 21 Sep 2006 20:50:07 +0200, Mirco Wahab a écrit :

Ths has been updated lately and is now available in a *much* *much* better
Version, *2.0* I'd guess.

Actually, I'm afraid this article in some way tries tries (and
fails) to be funny. Too bad.

 

[Keith Keller]

i love reading bad perl web tutes. this is as bad as they get. this
paragraph alone highlights the total confusion of the author. could he
have used any more hash synonyms?

A hash variable stores a array of (key, value) pairs,
collectively known as a map. Typically, the key and value are
different but related values, such as a person's name and phone
number. A hash is implemented in Perl so that you can quickly
look up the value given the key, when there are many (key,
value) pairs. From a algorithms/data structures standpoint, a
Perl hash implements a dictionary, mostly likely using a hash
table.

He forgot ''associative array''. ;-)

--keith

 

[John Bokma]

i love reading bad perl web tutes. this is as bad as they get. this
paragraph alone highlights the total confusion of the author. could he
have used any more hash synonyms?
yes!


A hash variable stores a array of (key, value) pairs,
collectively known as a map. Typically, the key and value are
different but related values, such as a person's name and phone
number. A hash is implemented in Perl so that you can quickly
look up the value given the key, when there are many (key,
value) pairs. From a algorithms/data structures standpoint, a
Perl hash implements a dictionary, mostly likely using a hash
table.

associative array, look up table, index :-D

A hash variable stores a array of (key, value) pairs,
collectively known as a map. Typically, the key and value are
different but related values, such as a person's name and phone
number. An associative array is implemented in Perl so that you can
quickly look up the value given the key, when there are many (key,
value) pairs in this look up table. From a algorithms/data
structures standpoint, a Perl index implements a dictionary, mostly
likely using a hash table.

:->

we do need to make a bad perl web tute site with links and reviews. in
my copious free time i will do this.

I will review
<http://visibooks.com/pdfs/TheVisibooksGuidetoPERLBasics50.pdf>

^^^^ Yes, the title says
it all.

next week when I am hopefully recovered of the first glance at this book
excerpt.

 

[Tad McClellan]

Hey! That's off-topic here. It's about some language called 'Pearl'

Such a language does exist, which is why Larry left the "a" out
of the name of his language:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEARL_programming_language

It sure doesn't seem something that could be compared to Python though...

 

[John Bokma]

Such a language does exist, which is why Larry left the "a" out
of the name of his language:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEARL_programming_language

It sure doesn't seem something that could be compared to Python
though...

WHEN fire ACTIVATE extinguish;

 

[Uri Guttman]

MD> You're either lying or removing past horrors. Do you remember the
MD> earthquake guy's one? And the one by a lady whose name eludes me for
MD> the moment, but which was reported here exactly for that reason: i.e.
MD> being an awfully bad -but supported by some institution's grant!- perl
MD> tutorial?


i recall all of those. but this guy's comments on arrays and lists being
the same since the docs say so is as bad as any of those others. the
absolute certainty of his comments are hysterical. but the only way to
truly judge these tutes is to make up a page of links, reviews and
quotes. a worthy project. maybe i will make it a wiki so we can all join
in.

uri

 

[Charlton Wilbur]

Regarding the purpose of the whole Visibooks stuff,
(http://visibooks.com/study.html) the book *might* be
not that bad after all.

To give, from the start, young people clear
instructions to get technical things done
(which they don't really understand and didn't
expect to master at all) helps them to get a
sense of self-efficacy and motivates them for
some time.

Even then, it would be far better to give accurate information.

One of the things I hated when I was teaching was that I'd run into
students who had been taught something that was flat-out wrong,
usually because it was expedient for the teacher. A student without
exposure to such a teacher only had to learn the materials and
techniques; a student who had had such a teacher, though, had to spend
extra effort un-learning what he or she had previously learned.

If the point of Visibooks is to create programmers full of wrong
information but who nonetheless have high confidence in their
correctness -- well, they can stop now. Such programmers are in more
than adequate supply.

Charlton

 

[Randal L. Schwartz]

Charlton> One of the things I hated when I was teaching was that I'd run into
Charlton> students who had been taught something that was flat-out wrong,
Charlton> usually because it was expedient for the teacher. A student without
Charlton> exposure to such a teacher only had to learn the materials and
Charlton> techniques; a student who had had such a teacher, though, had to
Charlton> spend extra effort un-learning what he or she had previously
Charlton> learned.

That's why we admit up front that we're "rounding off the corners" sometimes
in Learning Perl and Intermediate Perl... at least in the main text. We
always fix the lies in the footnotes. Hence, lots of footnotes.

However, in class, we don't have time to say the footnotes, so again, we admit
we lie, and that they should "read the book" to get the lies. I wish there
were another way. I guess it's sad perhaps when people don't even keep track
of when they are lying.

print "Just another Perl hacker,"; # the original!