[ale] Language Jihad!

[Dow Hurst]

My needs for a language are simple since I don't have any specific
project to apply them to!  :-)

I just want to start making the machines do what I want instead of what
somebody else wanted.  From the current discussion I am reaching again
the conclusion that the language must fit the need rather than the other
way round.  Also, that knowing many languages is a plus if your a
programmer!!  Thanks for the responses and help.  I think I'll look into
Ruby, but work on learning C++ for now since I have books and tools
setup for that.

Why is C++ so terrible?  Looks okay on the surface to me.
Dow

"Transam at cavu.com" wrote:
> 
> Dow Hurst <dhurst at kennesaw.edu> wrote:
> > I have wanted to learn a programming language for a while now.  My
> > thoughts were first with Perl for sysadmin.  Later, I thought I'd go
> > with Python to get Object Oriented type code but still have the string
> > manipulation capabilities.  Right now, Barnes and Noble has a C++ class
> > online I am trying out.  Also, I discovered Ruby which has high praises
> > for useability and versatility.  Tcl is interesting and people have
> > praised Ada95 to me.  I am a bit confused over the whole "what is best"
> > thing and believe that whatever will get the job done with the least
> > fuss and bother is probably best.  I've bought books but until I get
> > really fired up and believe I am on the "right" track, I just lose
> > interest!
> 
> For SysAdmin work, I would start with sed and shell scripting (tcsh or bash).
> Then Perl as that's so popular, then Python.  The awk language was the
> Perl of its day and still has a few tricks; I never got 'round to learning
> it.
> 
> If you want to go more hardcore, Java is the hot thing.  Alternatively,
> for writing servers, large applications, and system programming I'd suggest
> C.  I realize that I'm in the minority in thinking that C++ is junk that
> should be vaporized when the powers that be also vaporize other evil such
> as M$.
> 
> > I really had a laugh over the "Language Holy War" email replies over the
> > html link sed regexp question by Christopher Bergeron!
> > <trying to clean up coffee spilled from hilarious laughter with pages
> > from Solomon's "Organic Chemistry">
> 
> > <I hated Organic Chemistry!>
> 
> > Can someone convince me which is the best all around language to use?
> > Seems that C++ isn't so difficult but I really like Ruby and Perl for
> > the simplicity of how much code you have to write to get something done.
> 
> > Of course, I really enjoy piping basic unix commands together such as:
> 
> >  grep -n 'chemical connectivity' inputfile |
> >  awk -v FS=: '{print($1)}' |
> >  xargs -i echo " -e '{},{} s/0X    4 /0X   11 /g' \"
> >  >> output_sed_script.txt
> 
> > Now that was fun!!
> > Dow
> > __________________________________________________________
> > Dow Hurst                   Office: 770-499-3428
> > Systems Support Specialist  Fax:    770-423-6744
> > 1000 Chastain Rd.
> > Chemistry Department SC428  Email:dhurst at kennesaw.edu
> > Kennesaw State University         Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com
> > Kennesaw, GA 30144
> > ***************************************
> > *Computational Chemistry is hard work!*
>                               ^^^^^^^^^^
> Didn't this used to be "fun"?
> > ***************************************
> 
> Bob Toxen
> transam at cavu.com                       [Bob's ALE Bulk email]
> bob at cavu.com                           [Please use for email to me]

-- 
__________________________________________________________
Dow Hurst                   Office: 770-499-3428
Systems Support Specialist  Fax:    770-423-6744
1000 Chastain Rd.
Chemistry Department SC428  Email:dhurst at kennesaw.edu
Kennesaw State University         Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com
Kennesaw, GA 30144
*********************************
*Computational Chemistry is fun!*
*********************************
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