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Grex > Jellyware > #79: Python or Ruby (or Something Else) for Web Development? |  |
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Message |
| 18 new of 67 responses total. |
maus
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response 50 of 67:
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Aug 25 17:49 UTC 2007 |
resp:47,48,49 Whoa! I will be glad to not ever run into something
beastly like that. I'm sure it is great for its niche work, but ewww!
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unicorn
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response 51 of 67:
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Aug 26 01:12 UTC 2007 |
I played around with APL years ago on an IBM 5110 (a desktop size
minicomputer that predated the original PC. Some of the characters
were entered by typing one character, backspacing, and then typing
another character. For example, type an inverse triangle (one of the
APL special characters), backspace, and then type a single quote,
which would result in a symbol that looked like an inverse triangle
with a vertical tick mark inside it. I doubt I could write anything
in APL now without going through the manual to refresh my memory,
but at the time, I actually liked the language. Then again, I also
liked Forth (and still do).
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remmers
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response 52 of 67:
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Aug 26 12:42 UTC 2007 |
Re #48: I didn't realize TECO went back to the early 60s. Yes, that's
contemporaneous with APL. The name of the language comes from Ken
Iverson's book "A Programming Language", published in 1962, in which he
used a symbolic notation of his own invention to describe such things as
algorithms and computer architecture. A subset of Iverson's notation
was implemented as a programming language, dubbed APL, in 1964.
Wikipedia has more details.
(As a college senior, I took a course on computers and algorithms from
Iverson in 1963; "A Programming Language" was the textbook. My term
paper was a description of the Burroughs 205 architecture, using APL
notation. I remember thinking at the time that the "APL" notation was
pretty nifty. However, for reasons dimly remembered, the course somehow
managed to turn me off to computers. I elected to pursue pure math
instead, not returning to computer science until after I'd finished
graduate school.)
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gull
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response 53 of 67:
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Aug 28 21:02 UTC 2007 |
If you want the APL experience in something that uses a normal character
set, try J.
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h0h0h0
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response 54 of 67:
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Jan 17 04:15 UTC 2008 |
Learn both.
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remmers
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response 55 of 67:
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Jan 20 16:21 UTC 2008 |
Hmm. Maybe I should learn neither and just code in C.
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cross
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response 56 of 67:
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Jan 20 17:33 UTC 2008 |
That doesn't sound too fun.
The matter really boils down to what you feel most comfortable with; if I were
you, I'd dabble in both and then pick whichever language you preferred.
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remmers
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response 57 of 67:
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Jan 20 18:45 UTC 2008 |
Which is what I'm doing, actually. Although I do find coding in C to be
fun, usually.
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nharmon
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response 58 of 67:
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Jan 20 19:07 UTC 2008 |
John, have you considered learning a client-side language like
javascript or maybe Flash? I've been having a lot of success using
server-side CGI strictly to generate XML data while using javascript to
make the web pages dynamic.
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remmers
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response 59 of 67:
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Jan 20 20:44 UTC 2008 |
Oh yes, I'm well aware of the importance of client-side scripting in
today's web. I've done a bit with JavaScript, nothing heavy-duty.
On the client side, JavaScript is about the only widely supported non-
proprietary tool around. On the server side, there's more choice. To
date I've used C, Perl, and PHP for server-side stuff. I'd be interested
in feedback on what advantages Python and Ruby have compared to those.
I've been dabbling in both Python and Ruby, more in the latter. As a
language it has some interesting features - user-definable iterators, for
example. They would require a bit of brain-retooling on my part to use
effectively, I think.
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h0h0h0
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response 60 of 67:
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Jan 27 05:04 UTC 2008 |
Remmers: Hasn't the code blocks washed over you like a spring shower?
The reason i selected both is because both languages will give you an
opportunity to see new language contstructs and ideas.
Why not ERLANG?
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remmers
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response 61 of 67:
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Feb 1 16:55 UTC 2008 |
I've been hearing some buzz about Erlang recently. Went so far as to
download the system and type in a couple of sample programs. What would
Erlang buy me over other choices?
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mcnally
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response 62 of 67:
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Feb 1 20:16 UTC 2008 |
> What would Erlang buy me over other choices?
You'd get to hang out with the cool kids and sneer at the Perl programmers.
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nharmon
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response 63 of 67:
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Feb 1 20:29 UTC 2008 |
This response has been erased.
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gull
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response 64 of 67:
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Feb 6 20:33 UTC 2008 |
Lately I've been doing some assembly language coding on PICs, which
after years of high-level languages requires a bit of brain re-alignment.
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h0h0h0
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response 65 of 67:
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Mar 2 02:49 UTC 2008 |
Seems to be popular again - microcontrollers and such.
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gull
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response 66 of 67:
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Mar 4 20:55 UTC 2008 |
Well, they're cheap and readily available, and they're easy to use
because most of the peripherals and glue logic are on-board. $3 will
get you a microcontroller with a 4 MHz clock oscillator, timers,
counters, DACs, ADCs, I2C, and a serial UART, all built in. You just
provide +5 volts and hook up the inputs and outputs where you want them.
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dtk
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response 67 of 67:
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Jan 7 00:28 UTC 2013 |
Where I work, we have standard languages (COBOL or Java or REXX in the
mainframe; Java or Perl in the midrange servers and dotnet or Perl in
Windows), but only COBOL and Java have style guides. Since Perl works
the same way in UNIX, Linux or Windows, I use it. I have been told by
other system programmers (as well as by two application programmers)
that my Perl has a very strong C accent. Is it the best language? No,
but it works well enough. Forcing myself to maintain a very explicit,
imperative writing style and being serious about my comments (I believe
on average one line in three is a comment) makes my codes fairly
maintainable; I have not had anyone come to my desk with a source
print-out and a "WTF?" look on their face in a long time. -DTK
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