Re^4: How do you master Perl?

[brian_d_foy]

I like the Kung Fu example, although I never did watch the show. :)

It that the same thing as saying that the world is what it is, and you just have to deal with it according to its nature? I've been thinking about that too, especially with Perl. People have all sorts of reasons for liking or hating Perl (or some other language), but the language just is what it is. Maybe we get annoyed by something in it, but there's no reason to take these things personally.

Or maybe I need to watch more Kung Fu.

[samizdat]

It's too bad it's not shown any more. Our world would be more empowered if more people saw that show when growing up.

It's not just the ISness of things, but their nature / texture / quirks. If you consider this in the sense of 'just have to deal with it', you've already lost ground. Just as somebody who really appreciates Perl references is a lot further along than someone who just uses them when he/she has to, the environment in which your program runs has it's quirks but they are to be taken advantage of, not just endured.

Recall the old saying "That's not a bug, it's a feature!" EVERYTHING has such fatures, and a programmer who turns them to advantage is on his way to dancing with the Tao.

A good example is the Macintosh single-button mouse. "Damn, but that's a huge design screwup," I used to think... until I used one. :D