On Wednesday 07 September 2005 04:47 am, Michael Sparks wrote: > Dieter Vanderelst wrote: > > I'm currently comparing Python versus Perl to use in a project that > > involved a lot of text processing. I'm trying to determine what the > > most efficient language would be for our purposes. I have to admit > > that, although I'm very familiar with Python, I'm complete Perl noob > > (and I hope to stay one) which is reflected in my questions.
> Your comment """I'm complete Perl noob (and I hope to stay one) """ > would suggest to me that if you really feel that way, stay that way :-) I missed that on the first reading. IMHO, people love perl *really* because it was the first language of its type. However, we learned a lot from that experience, and have since made better languages in the same general category. The best of these of course, is Python. ;-) I felt that way about C, and occasionally Fortran. But I've gotten over it. ;-) I took Perl classes after I learned Python, and I haven't found anything Perl is enough better suited to do that it is worth the trouble of messing with it. Yes, the one and two liner programs are nice, but now that six months have passed and I can no longer remember Perl syntax, it's a lot easier to do it in Python, even if I do wind up using, say, 4 lines of code. The biggest distinction I got from looking at Perl from the perspective of Python is that: 1) Perl makes regular expressions first-class objects, which makes them really easy to use, and a "beginner" subject in a Perl class. 2) Python makes objects and classes really easy to use, so they are a "beginner" subject. However, each can do the other when pressed. So which would you rather have be easy? Regular expression program makes huge incomprehensible piles of gobblygook which you forget 10 seconds after you wrote it, while objects and classes make it easy to understand the structure of your program. Even regular expressions are clearer in Python (IMHO) because of the ability to apply string operations on them. Furthermore, the ready availability of more direct methods of string manipulation encourages more optimized and clearer design decisions (in Python if you just want to find a word, you can just say so, instead of "crafting a routine regular expression"). Performance is a complete non-issue. Both languages are reasonably fast, and neither has a clear advantage on real world projects. Python and Perl are "rivals" precisely because they are very similar in what they can do. So I'd second the suggestion to eschew the Perl if you can at all get away with it. If you're already sold on Python, there's no reason to question your judgement. Cheers, Terry -- Terry Hancock ( hancock at anansispaceworks.com ) Anansi Spaceworks http://www.anansispaceworks.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list