Perl (or Unix vs. MS, actually)

pll at lanminds.com pll at lanminds.com
Tue Aug 20 14:14:51 EDT 2002


In a message dated: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 12:37:34 EDT
"Derek D. Martin" said:

>I never claimed Unix commands weren't obscure; they ARE.  I prefer
>them to Microsoft commands because in general I find they do more and
>work better.  However, Unix has man pages.

But man pages and documentation aren't going to help a shell script 
be more readable! (at least by your own argument).

>I will also point out that many of the "traditional" Unix command were
>named when there was a four-letter limitation on filenames.

I don't believe there was ever a name-length limitation on filenames.
The 2 letter command names came about[1] because when UNIX was being 
developed, they were:

	- programming on DEC-Writers and other teletype like consoles
	- couldn't type
	- used 1 finger on each hand, and chose names which included
	  1 character on each side of the keyboard or 2 characters
	  very close to each other: ls, cd, df, wc, od, ps, etc.

>Newer Unix commands are (generally) much more indicative of their function.

Only because they ran out of meaningful 2 letter combinations I suspect :)

>There are very few Unix commands whose names are completely
>unintelligible, and learning them is much easier than learning the
>difference between $^P and $^B.  At least for me, and I suspect most
>people.

Ahm, AFAICT, there is no $^B, and I request one example of perl code 
which uses $^P and an explanation of why it's necessary, and what 
you're doing with it.

Yes, you've made your point.  Perl has a lot of "magic" variables 
which do all sorts of neat things and yes, it's very hard to learn 
them all.  However, in most perl code, very few of these are used and 
the ones that are used, are used with such regularity that anyone who 
claims to "know" the language should know what they mean and/or take 
the 35 seconds to look them up.

Footnotes:

[1]	This knowledge gleamed from the pages of Peter Salus' 25 Years of UNIX.
-- 

Seeya,
Paul
--
	It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing,
   but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away.

	 If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!





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