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That is what bash/pipeline programming felt like for me the first time I mastered it. I missed the Perl boat by a few years, riding the Python2/Java wave at Un
by tetris11 5y ago
That is what bash/pipeline programming felt like for me the first time I mastered it.
I missed the Perl boat by a few years, riding the Python2/Java wave at Uni instead, but I did encounter it a few times in legacy (read: 5-years old) code and could only marvel at its string manipulation capabilities.
I like to think of it as the extended bash that I never took the time to learn
- wutbrodo 5y agoI'm not super familiar with Perl, but I gather that it shares much of bash's, er, ergonomic hurdles. Is there something about gaining scripting power that requires such poor usability? I resisted it for a while, but I just write all my workaday scripts in Python now, and I'm honestly a little baffled as to why I stuck with bash for so long.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- lenkite 5y agoPerl's usability is far higher than bash and more consistent. Admittedly, there is a bit of memorisation regarding special variables, but those variables are well-documented and have a strong UNIX heritage. (and they have named versions too..)
- cafard 5y agoI would say that Perl burst on the world about 30 years ago, and that what it allowed one to do was so compelling that it spread at tremendous speed. It was out there, it was in use, and any development had to avoid--as far as possible--breaking existing code. It is possible to write lucid, maintainable Perl, something I have occasionally managed. It is easy to write ugly, unmaintainable Perl, and that I have too often done. If one looks at the Perl found on CPAN or in various good books on Perl, you can see how to do the former.