Re: what is the best way to learn to program?

[btrott]

I agree generally with chromatic's answer, although "just sitting down and programming" could, I think, seem like a relatively daunting task for someone who's never programmed at all. :)

I came in to Perl already quite familiar with C++, so from that perspective I already learned a lot of the basics of programming; the sort of concepts that can apply to any language. If you're not familiar with those, I suspect it's a bit more difficult to just sit down and learn a new language *and* how to program, in general.

I think I'd recommend a beginning programmer's book, such as Elements of Programming with Perl. From there you can learn the basics, and once you've learned those, I agree completely with chromatic: learn new things by finding problems you want to solve, and jump right into solving them. Don't be afraid to look at other code (but try to find good code, not code that hasn't been touched since Perl 4 was in its heyday). One source for good code, I think, is Randal Schwartz's Web Techniques column. Practical, applied uses of Perl. Start with the first few, then work up to the later (more complicated) scripts. The Unix Review columns are good too.

[merlyn]

Thank you for the kind reference to my columns. You can also check out my Linux Magazine Perl columns as well, although they aren't online until a 90-day moratorium from being in hardcopy.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker