Python version of IQ has been updates (IQ v0.34.python)

[Kirk Strauser]

At 2001-06-17T20:23:03Z, "Timothy Rue" <threeseas at earthlink.net> writes:

> Kirk,

> No I haven't looked into Perl. The RE pattern matching functions in Python
> are more than enough, more than I expected. Hey I can use white spaces in
> patterns now!!!.

Regular expressions in any language are certainly not for the faint of
heart.  The "Programming Perl" (aka "Camel") book contains some bizarrely
complex expressions for matching nested parenthesis and quotes in a
document.

> Is Perl syntax as easy to read as python, for the beginner?

If you already know C or a similar language, then yes, Perl is easy to read.
Or at least, it can be when written by someone who considers
"maintainability" to be an important goal.  It's unfortunately easy to
create Perl that is totally, utterly, completely unreadable - do a Google
search for "obfuscated perl contest" and take a look at some of the winners.

> Can perl be compiled into byte code for faster startup or put into a stand
> alone application? Or is Perl strickly an interpreted language?

Perl ships with a Perl-to-C converter that you can use to create compiled
apps.  Perl is also, by its nature, a bytecode compiler.  When you type
"perl foo.pl", foo.pl is compiled and executed at that moment.

> Of course you can port IQ to Perl if you want, but in any case (perl,
> python, rebol, arexx) it'd be nice to incorporate into IQ, the ability to
> access files thru the internet in a way that is as simple as accessing a
> file on the system you are using IQ on.

Perl has massively extensive libraries of add-on functionality - check out
www.cpan.org.
-- 
Kirk Strauser