From: Dan Sugalski [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
> Screw Visual Basic, Perl should be the scripting language of
> choice for, well, everything! :)
Well... then someone needs to make it easier to dynamically access the Win32
API from Perl.
Visual Basic has been growing up too. And it's a whole lot easier to work
with the Win32 API, COM, ADSI, COM, etc. than Perl. No reading 1600+ pages
of obfuscated mind bending XS documentation, C Macro's, and Perl Internals.
No compiling DLL's every time you need to access functions in shared
libraries. You really have to be an C coder to do Perl<=>C. Perl's not going
to move in on VB-land any time soon...
o Aldo Calpini's Win32::API module is nice, but does nothing
for helping Joe Perl user with C data structures and callbacks.
o Brian Ingerson's Inline module is also nice, makes serious
inroads on callbacks and type mapping, but adds the requirement
of a C compiler.
o Paul Moore's FFI is a cross-platform Win32::API. Rough but
nice... and not likely to have those rough edges smoothed out
any time in the near future
o John Tobey's C::DynaLib is mostly dead
o XS is bad enough for Joe Perl user that at least 4 serious
attempts have been made to make Perl<=>C feel more like Perl,
and less like C, C Macro, and Perl Internals XS sadomasochism.
Garrett
