Subj : Re: Syntax, style, the infinite monkey theorum and coding
To   : comp.programming
From : thornley
Date : Mon Aug 22 2005 04:18 pm

In article <43063918$1@news.tulsaconnect.com>,
Jonathan Bartlett  <johnnyb@eskimo.com> wrote:
>> okay, so i can't follow perl code - some times it just looks like so
>> much:
>> hjgf$~@//\4-abc/\%$@
>> in fact that snippet might be really useful to someone!
>
It isn't valid Perl code, FWIW>

>It's probably not Perl code you even mind -- It's probably regular 
>expression code, which is _nicer_ to read in Perl than in other 
>languages.  For example, the same regular expression in PHP is usually 
>twice as hard to read because of all of the backslash-escaping you have 
>to do.
>
Well, yes, lots of Perl is regular expressions because they're
easy and useful, and if I've got a RE problem I usually use Perl
just because of that.

However, the use of punctuation is also rather strange, particularly
in defining variable namespaces, and things like the list notation
aren't real common in more conventional languages.  Sort of like
how Lisp code looks like words within random jumbles of parentheses
to some people.

Perl just looks different from most programming languages, and the
RE parts are just a little of it.

--
David H. Thornley                        | If you want my opinion, ask.
david@thornley.net                       | If you don't, flee.
http://www.thornley.net/~thornley/david/ | O-

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