Sounds like the VB code wasn't written robustly (error handling, retries, etc) and it needs to be rewritten. In this case, why rewrite in VB when Perl is much better with file handling. I like VB, but for this "workhorse" application with no GUI why go VB? It is a no brainer.
-----Original Message----- From: Bill Curnow [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 2:53 PM To: Theisen, Gary; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: PERL vs VB On 30 Mar 2004 at 13:21, Theisen, Gary wrote: > "industry" documentation/tests to present to my managers/peers for > review if I am going to convince them that well written PERL solutions > would be better than trying to clean up the current (sporadically > working) VB scripts. I was in a similar situation nearly three years ago. Back then we were faced with the task of writing a system to translate thousands of files in Format A to Format B (and B to A) on a daily basis. The PHB wanted to use VB (compiled, not VBScript) but I knew Perl to be a better choice. The problem I found, as you're finding now, is that there were no formal case studies that pitted one language against the other. What to do? My solution was to create a real-world demonstration. I built a sample 200mb datafile and created two translation programs: one in Perl and the other in VB. The PHB grabbed a stopwatch and we ran the VB program followed by the Perl program. Needless to say, the Perl program smoked the VB program. To seal the deal I bought him a copy of Data Munging with Perl. Since then we've build a Perl-based Job Control System that automatically logs all output from Perl jobs, throws errors to a central console, and brings the concept of job-class initiators to the PC world. We run apx 10,000 Perl jobs a day across 5 servers with a total CPU time of just over 18 hours. I can speak directly to each of your points except the last one. Perl programs do not have access to network drives in our environment, so we use FTP for all inter-server transfers. -- Bill Curnow 806.763.8011 Manager, e-Business Architecture -o fax 806.762.7400 Plains Cotton Cooperative Association http://www.pcca.com _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs
