Re: [tlug] Alternatives to sed + awk

[Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>]

On 03/03/11 14:40, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> Raymond Wan writes:
>
>   >  I know little about Python, but I usually hear that Python
>   >  is good for rapid prototyping while Perl is good for text
>   >  processing.
>
> I don't think I'd pigeon-hole either language that way.  Although I
> enjoy Perl bashing as much as the next guy, really both are
> high-level, general-purpose languages, and it's mostly a matter of
> style which you use.  I *personally* find Python much cleaner, even
> cleaner than Ruby for that matter, but all of these languages (maybe
> including PHP, but that one is very biased toward being run within a
> webserver) are general purpose.


Yes, you are right -- they're all general purpose.  And it 
might be I was just duped by some Python-fan.  :-)

Learning Python has been on my to-do list for so long now. 
But when you know another language that is similar, then the 
motivation to learn a new language even if it is a better 
tool for the job diminishes.  That and the use of 
indentation instead of parentheses is hard to get use to.  I 
guess I need a "Python on training wheels" which takes my 
script, removes the parentheses, and then sends it to the 
Python interpreter.  :-)


> As Josh says, the one thing that makes Perl stand out is that its
> concise (ahem!) syntax, many operators, usually accurate implicit type
> coercion, and implicit loop command line options make it very useful
> for one liners that otherwise would require several tools hooked
> together by pipes.


Some Perl-fans also rave about CPAN modules.  Without having 
seen Python's or Ruby's, I'm not sure about this.

Ray