A lot of the things I don't like about Perl (using eval instead of try to introduce a block with exception handlers is especially bothersome) will go away in Perl 6. I think it will become a much neater language when version 6 comes out.
Python appeals to me because I like minimalism in language design, but I think Perl is more powerful and, well, there are things that I dislike about Python, too. It's annoying to have to worry about "new style" and "old style" classes, I'm not crazy about making self an explicit parameter in method definitions (but maybe it is a good thing, I vacillate on this one). The object syntax is simple, but a little klunky. Python is a little too closely tied to the object paradigm for my taste. While I'm a big fan of object orientation, I don't think it's the answer to everything, and I also think that the time has really come for new ideas in language design. --- Suchi Pande <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jim Self wrote: > > > > I would guess that most people on this list are not really familiar > with PHP, Python or > > Perl, so a brief mention of the most important distinctions (with > as little heat as > > possible) could be helpful. > > In a nutshell: > > Perl can do pretty much everything, and has a zillion modules already > > around. Even has an HL7 module. Notorious for line noise terseness - > but frankly, you can write readably in it too. My language of choice > for getting things done. > > Python is neater, but not as popular. It is however the language that > > powers Zope, which is a wonderful development framework for web apps. > > A zope based system would be my choice for a future EHR, but Moore's > law may have to continue for a bit first - I have heard arguments > about zope's speed for EMR purposes. I suspect (I don't know) the > truth is that zope's database is plenty fast if set up right. The > Torch project was a GPL zope-based EHR you may want to play with. It > looked like it had an excellent architecture. > > PHP is an unholy miscegnation of a language that is easy to integrate > > with the web. It lacks elegance but is the most popular way of doing > web apps. Very easy to do stuff with, but hated by computer language > purists for its ad hoc nature. It has had a reputation in the past > for > vulnerabilities in its libraries. > > Like I say, these are my opinions in a nutshell. They probably belong > > there ;-) > > PJ > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > SF.Net email is Sponsored by the Better Software Conference & EXPO > September 19-22, 2005 * San Francisco, CA * Development Lifecycle > Practices > Agile & Plan-Driven Development * Managing Projects & Teams * Testing > & QA > Security * Process Improvement & Measurement * > http://www.sqe.com/bsce5sf > _______________________________________________ > Hardhats-members mailing list > Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members > === Gregory Woodhouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Without the requirement of mathematical aesthetics a great many discoveries would not have been made." -- Albert Einstein ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is Sponsored by the Better Software Conference & EXPO September 19-22, 2005 * San Francisco, CA * Development Lifecycle Practices Agile & Plan-Driven Development * Managing Projects & Teams * Testing & QA Security * Process Improvement & Measurement * http://www.sqe.com/bsce5sf _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
