Re: Perl - Was unix time conversion function

On Tue, 2003-01-28 at 17:49, Tim Bunce wrote:

> "If you can do it in Perl chances are" someone already has...
>
> Check it out:
> http://search.cpan.org
>
> Just search for something...
>

I think you'll find that the same is very rapidly becoming as true for Python.

I'm not trying to get into arguments over which language is better because "better" is different for everyone. Jared's book gives an Oracle DBA strong incentive to use Perl. But, if Perl doesn't fit your thinking, do yourself a favor and start looking at other languages. You'll be a lot better off finding a programming language that you 'get' as long as it works in the systems environment in which you do your work. For Oracle DBA's or Unix SysAdmins, I don't think you'd go wrong to start your exploration with Python.

A good test of a programming language that you should try before you sell your soul to it is this - write a relatively complex program, leave it alone for 6 months, then go back to add some new non-trivial functionality. If you find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out how the code works before you get started with adding to it, think how many times you want to do that over the course of a lifetime.

That's what sold me on Python in a big way. I write a bunch of programs that I won't touch again for a half a year or more. With Perl, I found myself spending way too much time figuring out how the code worked before I could start work on updating it. With Python, it is seriously a breeze for me to go back to old code, see how the program works, and get started on changes. My coding habits are likely partly to blame.

Your mileage, as they say, may vary (considerably).

-- 
Glenn Stauffer
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA
-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net
-- 
Author: Glenn Stauffer
  INET: stauffer_at_swarthmore.edu

Fat City Network Services    -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
San Diego, California        -- Mailing list and web hosting services
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may
also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).