Re: Perl, the new generation

On Thu 17 May 2001 00:33, Nathan Torkington <[email protected]> wrote:
> > 	2) If the language is so big that you can't hold all of its
> > features in your head, then those extra features might as well not
> > exist.
> 
> I disagree.  I don't hold all of perl5 in my head.  Formats?  They're
> rough templates for output.  Exactly how to use them, no idea.  How to

Shall I give you a course in YAPC::Europe ?;-))

> use File::Find?  I always read the manpage.  85% of Damian's Weird OO
> Stuff?  Never used it, probably never will.  How to write a source
> filter?  I'll read the manpage.
> 
> Does this mean that those features might not exist?  Hell no!  I like
> the things people have done with source filters, OO modules, and so
> on.  Would I take those features away?  Not on your nelly.

It's not only the outside, but also the inside where this happens. Look at p5p,
where *many* people share the same goal, but the individuals sometimes have no
idea of what the others are dealing with. Do you think Simon will solve locale
support for OS/2 or DG-UX? Think that Hugo will solve your NaN problems or Nick
will debug your infinite regex recursion?

When I entered p5p, I had the wish to become the next Ilya (yes sometimes we
try to reach for the stars), but p5p has pushed me towards configurations,
HP-UX and AIX, hints, formats and testing. I'm happy there! (And I'm still
wondering how the innards work)

-- 
H.Merijn Brand    Amsterdam Perl Mongers (http://www.amsterdam.pm.org/)
using perl-5.6.1, 5.7.1 & 626 on HP-UX 10.20 & 11.00, AIX 4.2, AIX 4.3,
     WinNT 4, Win2K pro & WinCE 2.11 often with Tk800.022 &/| DBD-Unify
ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/authors/id/H/HM/HMBRAND/