I have put together a condensed Perl training class (in powerpoint) based on examples from our own Perl programs, focussing on differences between Perl and other common languages, cautioning of potential confusions to avoid, and highlighting certain key Perl Best Practices, my favorites from the book.
Since it focusses on language differences, it would be suitable for training Perl as a second language. Unfortunately, the examples (mostly written by someone else before me) mostly consist of SQL queries and simplistic, brute-force web page generation. Unfortunately because these examples are Boeing-proprietary, I doubt I'd get permission to share the presentation; but I'll try. Also, it needs some updating, and I have yet to present it to anyone. (Let me take this opportunity to vent a little. I understand the need to be secure and careful, but it frustrates me to be limited to the CPAN subset approved and provided by my company, Boeing. Anyone else encumbered under similar limitations?) VISUAL DESIGN: For this presentation, I developed and used a Visual Design for easier comprehension and quick language familiarization, with the following features: Tables of Language Features Four graphical icons indicating * PerlDiff for Perl Different from other languages * Caution * PerlFun * BEST for Best Practice Color-coded Perl source, mostly from Eclipse's Perl plugin editor Animated annotations in color-coded text boxes: * light grey for annotations, descriptions, explanations. * light green for reference material, * light yellow for Cautions, (some) source code, Best Practices, quotes, highlighting, * light blue for some important points or opinions * light orange for some source code snippets (This color-coding is not strictly consistent.) Animation most used was Entrance, Wipe, From Top. With many annotations, animated the entrance of corresponding arrows and boxes tying each note to the code it describes. -----Original Message----- From: Gabor Szabo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 9:47 AM To: advocacy@perl.org Subject: Perl as a second language if we are already talking advocacy, I'd appreciate your help here. I am trying to put together a one day long training for Java/C*/etc... programmers to learn Perl as a second language. I don't want to convert them to use Perl instead of their primary language. This is a decision that need to be made on a higher level in the corporate ladder. It might not even be a good idea. What I would like to teach them is to start using Perl as a helper tool to automate some of their tasks. For this I need some cool examples of how Perl can be used to help them. The problem, that besides the standard system related stuff (eg. log parsing) I don't know what else these people might need. So I would really like to hear what does a Java/C*/etc..programmer with several years of experience need to do to improve his working conditions that he would be better off doing with Perl after just 1 day of training... I already asked more or less the same question on Perlmonks http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=641982 but the responses were lacking extensive examples I can build on. Your input is appreciated. Gabor -- Gabor Szabo http://www.szabgab.com/ Perl Training in Israel http://www.pti.co.il/
