Software Engineering discussion

This is definitely a liberal arts-centric chapter, with emphasis on the linguistics issues that Perl is famously based upon, but which I don't really fully understand.

I used to really like Perl, mostly for it's dynamic, low-overhead, text-processing ability. Over time, I have become bored with it. It is a language designed to express the same thing in many different ways (the linguistic point), but a consequence is that Perl code can be difficult to read. And, code is read much more than it is written. I am, however, amazed at how much CPAN library content has appeared over time covering so many domains, which is a key consideration for any language these days.

The Perl 6 situation is a joke. It started in 2000, and there is still no end defined.

For years, I used Perl in my information retrieval class. Last semester, I allowed students to use Python as an alternative. Next time, I will switch to all Python.

I enjoyed the linguistic discussion. It reminded me of "The Math Gene" book. Some of those natural concepts and relationships seem obvious when you are aware of them, but I find myself sadly not aware too often.

"The Math Gene" discusses natural language syntax, natural selection of brain features, and argues that all people have the capacity for being good at math.

I really like the "You can’t tell volunteers what to do" section, and the "Coin flip - Call 'Edge'" section.