Perl vs Python

Perl and Python are the two powerful language. I still didn't learn anyone of them. But i wanna learn(basically both),but which one should i gain first(or which one should i leave if i wanna learn only one)? Some people i say Perl is better and some say Python better. As a geek/newbie anyone will be in trouble to understand which one is better and easy to learn,yet powerful. I'd like to ask people knowing one or both of them,to comment and advice about it. Which one is easy, which one powerful, which one featured better? Also whats the prerequisite(html,xml,javascript,php.........) to learn these language? Thanks.

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What are you going to program? What other languages have you programmed in?

If you want to program dynamic web pages, I'd be hard pressed to find a safer answer than PHP for beginners.

Emacs users prefer perl, and vi users like python, don't ask why.

Either way, I recommend dreamhosted http://greenteapress.com/ and their "free" books, How To Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python, and Learning Perl the Hard Way.

.......

Lensman is right.

Generally:

Perl is very powerful in string processing.

For website development, it is much easier to start with PHP.

Hope you get some ideas.

On both Perl and Python homepage there're tons of tutorials,ebooks etc's link. I saw the 'How to think.......' book there too.
So i'm suggested to learn php first,right? I still don't know php,but will learn ofcourse. But i wanted to hear a bit deeper detailed discussion about the differences of Perl and Python. I want to learn both of them. Thats why i just wanted to know which is better yet powerful(for begginers too). But can't understand why the difference of liking(Perl/Python) between emacs and vi users? However, thanks for advice.

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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=perl+python+compare

It was a joke!
vi versus emacs; which one is better? is an old discussion. Similar for perl, python, php...

This board is .pl, so we should say perl is best. Your opinion may differ, after you try them.

.......

Heh, vi vs. emacs is a classic. But as an old-time emacs guy, I would say that emacs people prefer Lisp!

Anyway, I thought it would help the original poster to consider the big open source or free web applications that we all know and love. Let's start with the ones available as DreamHost one-click installs:
WordPress: PHP
ZenCart: PHP
phpBB: uh... PHP
activeCollab: PHP
AdvancedPoll: PHP
Gallery: PHP
Joomla!: PHP
MediaWiki: PHP
WebCalendar: PHP

Of course, this survey is probably biased in that it could be that DreamHost only does one-click installs for php applications for either technical reasons or practical support reasons.

OTOH, I have heard some great things about Ruby on Rails. Then again, I would since I'm a big Smalltalk and Java guy.

Languages are languages. Some are better for some things than others, but as Lensman showed, a good number of the applications that run on DH servers without a lot of drama are PHP.

The trials and tribulations of Perl/Python/Ruby users here at DH are well documented.

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Firstly thanks to Lensman for the examples through DH one click installs. I'm a geek and my passion is to combine all of the advices. And i try to follow advice carefully.

In reply to:

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Languages are languages. Some are better for some thing than others...........

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Yes,basically thats the base of my question. I wanted to know(learn) where,when,how and why,which one is better between Perl and Python. And i've no doubt about PHP,its a great language. Much more(doubtless) about Java.

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BTW, you're never going to find a definitive answer to your question because the answer really depends on who you are and who you know.

... and who they are and what they think they know.



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So letun, what programming languages are you most confortable in? And what do all your friends program in (don't count us)?

Firstly i'm a geek(mentioned several times),so don't have expertise. I know a bit of html and javascript. But because of my personal problems i couldn't practice enough for many day(approx 1 year). Now trying to get back. But because of the exam(next month) i can't still engage enough myself. But after the exam i'll try to engage myself completely with Linux and programming. Thats why i need some direction. I don't have any friend having extra knowledge without general computing. Even i help them sometimes. Before installing Linux first time on my pc i heard many words such as i can't learn Linux its very hard etc etc. But i installed my first ever operating system on my computer and that was Linux. I just got help from a magazine. First time i had to single boot(over writting win xp). Then dual boot......... I think its enough to explain myself(and to get directions)

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My personal opinion is that Perl is better to learn first, then Python. This is mainly because Perl is, if not more flexible in general, it is at least in form more flexible. I found the constantly repeated mantra of "There's more than one way to do it" in the Perl community very helpful when I was learning the language. Use the lines

use strict;
use warnings;

at the beginning of all of your Perl code and it will help out tremendously. They enforce certain programming guidelines and provide more verbose reports when something isn't quite right.

Python is also a very powerful language, and it may be easier to learn in some ways. But, in my opinion, it's better to start with Perl.

I /know/ that there are many many people out there with different opinions on this, so whichever you choose you'll have a large community of people out there able to help out. My personal experience was with Perl first, then a bit of Python, then some Ruby, and I've come back to Perl each time. But many people have a completely opposite reaction, which is why there are so many choices in the first place :-)

Good luck either way!

no way! :)

Python is better and easiest to learn, those that say that it's hard, didn't checked it, say... for a week at least...

Try for yourself, i've been on #linux and while chating with an old friend about a c++ cgi script he recommanded me python.

I asked him if it's possible to make an xml/xslt program using python in a week of learning and he told me "yes"

I took his advise and i never regreted it! in a week at most you'll be able to make great things with python!

just read the online tutorial at python.org and don't hesitate to dive into python with mark pilgrim's chef d'oeuvre: http://diveintopython.org

Good luck :)

Its being a bit hard for me to choose which one should i learn first. Even i visited both Perl and Python homepage and there're no hesitation that both are powerful. But which one first? I think if its not resolved i can take a look of both languages' beginners tutorials and go to deep by choosing one myself. Isn't it a good idea?

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well :)

First of all i'm a vi, yes i'm not emacs... maybe that's why i love python ;)

i'd like to show you some things:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3882
http://www.strombergers.com/python/
http://www.strombergers.com/python/perl_ha_ha_ha.html

Thats logical. Recently i read Eric Raymonds 'How to become a hacker' and there also i got his advice in Python. Oh,i searched on google through 'Python+Perl+compare' term. On the first result i got an article.That a bit more than possible i think. However, thanks for your efforts in helping me.

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