Re: Extract number from character field(Perl syntax) (wayy offtopic)

[boldt@xxxxxxxxxx]

Jim wrote:
>First, I don't consider RPG to be big at all.  Languages I would consider
>to be "big" would be C, BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN and COBOL.  There
>are some other languages that a "big" but not quite as much, such as ADA,
>LISP, Forth and the like.

You're a brave man to state on this mailing list that RPG
is not big.  It's by far the most popular language on the
most popular midrange system.  I've read that it's probably
the most commonly used language for business applications.

I wouldn't consider Pascal big anymore.

>
>Perl has some good things going for it, mainly that it is cross platform.
>Just as any computer worth it's weight in copper would have a C,
>Basic, Pascal, FORTRAN and COBOL compiler for it they will
>most likely have a Perl language.
>
>Perl really picked up with the internet and CGI, but it's pretty much
>a cliché, and the internet is too new for things to remain constant.
>In all likelihood something will come along to replace Perl as the
>de facto parsing language for CGI.  I don't know what language that
>would be, but I think it would happen just because Perl is too hard
>to figure out from a basis in other programming languages.

Have you tried learning Perl?  There's a lot of good
information available on the internet.  Also, several
excellent books published by O'Reilly.  Start with
"Learning Perl", then move up to "Programming Perl".

The hardest part of Perl for those not familiar with
the Unix world is probably regular expressions.  For
me, well, before I looked at Perl, I didn't have a
very good understanding of regular expressions.  But
after reading the books and writing a few programs, I
think I've got a good handle on the subject.  Some
things are simply harder to learn than others.

>
>Java will become big if it becomes easier to figure out.  Java does
>have the advantage that it looks a bit like C code.  It is not impossible
>for a non Java programming to figure out what a Java program is
>doing, just difficult.

The difficult part of a language like Java is
understanding the object relationships.  OO is
fundamental to Java, and learning OO is not always
easy.

BTW, Perl can do OO quite nicely.  Actually, I've
always said that dynamic, typeless languages like
Perl or Object Rexx are the ones best suited to OO.

>
>But, a non Perl programming looking at Perl has absolutely no idea
>what is going on.

To repeat, someone who doesn't know RPG wouldn't have
a clue either when looking at an RPG program for the
first time.

>
>If someone wants to learn Java they have some knowledge they can
>take with them, their understanding of C, Pascal and similar languages.
>But, learning Perl is a whole new story.  I program a little bit in Perl,
>but I do not enjoy it in the least.  Just as I used to program in APL, but
>I don't enjoy it.

Here's where you and I really differ.  I find Perl a
lot of fun.  Using Perl, you can write very powerful
programs in a very short time.

You've read the story about the UCLA programming
contest where the winner decidedly trounced all others
by using Perl?  The organizers of the contest banned
Perl from subsequent contests!  (The winner said he
didn't know what to do with his prize - a copy of MS
Visual C++!)

Someone once told me:  "There are two type of people:
those who like APL and those who haven't been properly
introduced to it."  I think the same could apply to
Perl.

>
>I could be wrong, and Perl can become used more than any other
>language, but I don't see it happening.  There will always be the minority
>who will use it, and the people who will learn it to get another notch
>in their belt, but the majority of programmers I think will stay away
>from it.

As more and more people use Perl for their CGI apps,
they will recognize how useful Perl can be in other
application domains.

BTW, just so no one thinks I'm being unfaithful to
RPG, I don't see Perl replacing RPG for business
applications.  Lack of good decimal arithmetic alone
will prevent that.

Cheers!  Hans

Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com


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