Of course I will remain subscribed and I am not gonna start learning PHP immediately. I am thinking to learn it because in my country there are only 2 books for learning perl in my native language and even though I don't need them, there are very few perl programmers and almost no jobs for perl developers. There are even some programmers that just heard about perl but they don't even know too well what it is, and they are good programmers in their languages.
My problem is that I am used to work under Windows where no compiler is installed by default and where some CPAN modules don't even compile under this OS, and I cannot just jump and use Linux because Linux is not an operating system too accessible for the blind, and I am totally blind. Unfortunately I cannot try to solve this problem and start creating an accessible version of Linux then creating perl programs under this OS. Perl is great because OF CPAN also, but there are very many modules that require Linux, some of them don't even tell this but the modules don't even want to compile under this OS. I am not trying to convince somebody that PHP or Java is better than perl, but I am just trying to see what makes those programming languages so... "en vogue". For example a programmer in Java can create not only java servlets or java server pages, but they can also create java applets and desktop programs with a graphical interface while this is not possible with perl. Internet Explorer, the most used browser can display java applets, but it doesn't support perl scripts and those perl scripts cannot create a graphical interface in the browser. perl can create descktop programs with a graphical interface using the Tk modules, but those modules are not accessible at all for the blind. They use some strange classes that print the form like a picture on the screen while Java programs can be made accessible with Java Access Bridge. Well, see, these are perl problems, but perl doesn't have a company like Sun Microsystems to fight to solve them, and it doesn't have so many advertisers either. For example, after installing Apache under Windows, by default PHP is set to be accepted after instalation, but perl is not set and we need to add the "AddHandler" lines in the httpd.conf file in order to make it work. It is very clear that Apache is promoting PHP and there are not very many companies that promote perl. I've started to find (very strange) web hosting providers in my country that offer PHP support and space for free and some of them unlimited traffic, but they don't offer perl support at all. I am not sure that PHP is used more than perl now, but after 5 years... it will be used more than perl for sure. Which could be the solutions? - To have some Tk classes that are accessible for people with dissabilities. - To be able to have the programs compiled as binaries (.exe under Windows) without needing to embed the perl interpreter in the code like with perlapp, or to have a kind of runtime environment - the perl interpreter installed separately, but without any other unneeded modules. - to have a very good development environment for programmers (I don't need it, but new programmers in this language is searching for such a thing) and it doesn't exist. (I've tried comodo of ActiveState, but it is not accessible for the blind like other programming languages environments) - To have precompiled modules for Windows and for other operating systems for much more packages than ActiveState has now. - To have a set of kind of standard modules for creating, editing and reading more file types that are precompiled and which can be installed easier and a set of modules for working on the web, comunicating with more merchant accounts, shopping carts... - to promote packages that contain perl, Apache, MySQL and possibly other tools for programmers, because most programmers that test their programs locally need them. ... Teddy, Teddy's Center: http://teddy.fcc.ro/ Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Todd W." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 5:21 AM Subject: Re: PHP vs Perl "Octavian Rasnita" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > I think the reason why PHP is used more and more much than Perl is that for > CGI related programs it is much simpler to use than perl. Octavian , you haven't _proved_ that PHP is used more than perl. > For example it has a set of libraries for the most used functions in a CGI > program, for example SSL support, a module for reading and creating PDF > files, modules for accessing some payments operators for shopping carts, > etc. > Those modules can be created in perl, but even if some of those modules > exists for perl, they don't work very well. I've tried to use the modules > for creating a PDF document under Windows, but with no success. > It is pretty hard to install some of the perl modules under Windows because > most of them need to be compiled, need a compiler to be installed, etc. > With PHP it is much simpler to work and I can see this even though I don't > know PHP at all.... yet. Perl does all those things you mention very well. Please don't take offense here, this is your thread. But, you say that you have tried to use perl implementations of web technology, and you claim in this post that, "they don't work very well." Then you say that PHP has simpler implementations, yet you haven't attempted to use any of them. I am willing to bet, Octavian, that you are going to have just as difficult a time trying to do those things in PHP as you are having in perl. This is because, Octavian, your rationale for switching to PHP. It appears the purpose of your OP is that you have a need for a tool or tools written in perl that need compiled. Because you are unfamiliar with compiling code, you solution is to, rather than learn to compile code, switch to a different technology. I feel obligated to warn you, Octavian, that this choice will doom you to repeated failure, because you have chosen to circumvent the problem rather than solve it. A true software developer, Octavian, will be able to implement a solution in any modern computer language. Because a true software developer has been versed in concepts like data modeling and "manual" activities like compiling C source code, this developer will use proven methodology to design a solution for a customer or idea. Only after the solution has been designed will the developer begin to contemplate secondary requirements like what language to implement the solution in. So, Octavian, you may very well learn to do the simple things you have been doing with perl in PHP, and they may very well seem easier to you. But, as soon as you run into doing something complicated, you will be right back where you started. You are going to have to do something you cant figure out, and be posting to a newsgroup that the tool you are trying to use "don't work very well". I am NOT flaming you, Octavian. I have read many of your posts and you have helped alot of people on this list and we are grateful. Even if you do change your base technology, we all hope that you stay subscribed to the list and continue to contribute. Todd W. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
