[Tutor] Newbie Question - Python vs Perl

[Jan Eden]

Hi Scott,

Scott Clausen wrote on 30.10.2005:

>As a newbie to Python I'd like to know if someone can tell me some
>strengths and weaknesses of this language. The reason I'm asking is
>a friend told me I should learn Perl over Python as it's more
>prevalent.  I'm going to be using it on a Mac.
>
>I'd appreciate hearing any views on this topic. My own view is that
>it's always good to learn new things as you then have more tools to
>use in your daily programming.

I started learning Python approx. 4 months ago. I had been using Perl for about 4 years at that time. (BTW, I work on a Mac, too)

The motivation for trying Python came when a certain project needed an OOP overhaul. While I was able to code an OOP version of the program, the result was rather slow and ugly. This was only partly because of my own deficiencies - Perl does not really invite you to produce clean code on larger projects (IMHO).

When I re-coded the very same project in Python, I achieved a much better (faster, more readable) result within weeks.

Most comparisons of Perl and Python also highlight Python's cleaner syntax, I can second that (although I got used to Perl's @$% syntax after a while).

Cheers,

Jan
-- 
Common sense is what tells you that the world is flat.