Mother of Perl Magzazine

Andy King sent us a fluffy little statement about Mother of Perl that I've simplified: Perl is good. We like it. This biweekly zine will help you know it better. First article is on XML. This isn't the Perl Journal (which has a permanent spot in my bathroom) but its not bad. Update: 02/18 12:20 by CT : course it would be better if the registration worked.

XML Example that doesn't use XML modules (?!?)

[eisen]

Let me respond, since you raise some good points.
1. TMTOWTDI.
2. Using XML::Parser would be overkill for such
a lightweight format.
3. I guess no one noticed that the headline files
were not well formed to begin with (no root element), hence, it would not work with an XML or SGML parser. I had to deal with the format that was available.
4. Audience - exposing readers to full blown XML concepts would blow most people away unless I started with an XML intro.
5. The article is for the Desparate Perl Hackers out there who need to solve difficult problems efficiently in an imperfect world. This often involves performing unnatural contortions like embedding non-HTML tags in HTML, and working with invalid XML. That's what Perl's good at.
6. The Spring edition of TPJ will satisfy your craving for a pure XML example using XML::Parser.

I will probably be addressing XML further in the future, among other things. Please feel free to send suggestions for a topic you'd like covered.

Jonathan Eisenzopf.
http://www.webreference.com/perl

Permanent Spot In Bathroom

[Single GNU Theory]

A dab of Didi-7 (purportedly) should take care of that spot!

Python forever

[Laxitive]

Title says it all. Perl might be cool, but python kicks ass :)

Personally I prefer PHP.

[decadent1]

I would disagree... give it a chance - perhaps a bit confusing at first, but I've found it far easier to understand than Perl.

Have a look at: http://www.php.net

PHP vs Perl... perhaps missing the point a bit... what about PHP vs ASP?

Python forever

[mill]

Except for its braindead syntax.

http://sunsite.auc.dk/www.python.org/doc/FAQ.htm l#6.2

"Since there are no begin/end brackets there cannot be a disagreement between grouping perceived by the parser and the human reader. I remember long ago seeing a C fragment like this:

if (x = y)
x++;
y--;
z++;
and staring a long time at it wondering why y was being decremented even for x > y... (And I wasn't a C newbie then either.)"

Well the natural and simple solution is of course to not allow statement bodies that aren't enclosed by brackets (something I always do anyway).

"[some crap about saving lines of code with a forced coding style guide]"

I say - get a better editor.

/mill

Personally I prefer PHP.

[Anonymous Coward]

Perl is just too messy when it comes to web development. SysAdmin scripting, yeah, it's better than PHP, but as far as web dev. goes, PHP is tha bomb.

XML Example that doesn't use XML modules (?!?)

[mill]

Well from my reading of his posts to the Perl-XML list I know he has the expertise in the field.

Your credentials are of course unknown when you are just another Anonymous Coward.

/mill

Python forever

[mill]

Well I find large Python programs close to impossible to grok, because of its use of indentation.

Python might be a cleaner OO scripting language, but for text processing I rather use Perl. I would use neither for application development (unless they are very small).

Well I will go back to my module writing - Perl of course :-).

/mill

Python forever

[AMK]

Well, there was that one issue of the Python Journal [pythonjournal.com] that came out a while back, but I'm not sure what the status is at the moment. (On the other hand, setting a deadline for the next issue would mean I'd have to finish my article. Hmm... decisions, decisions.)

Perl is good

[Peder]

I actually read that next part as
"This biweekly zine will help you know better."

Oh, well. Need more caffeine, I guess.