One of the best methods I've found is to "decode" existing Perl code to see what the programmer is trying to accomplish.
I was recently thumbing through "Perl and CGI For The World Wide Web" by Elizabeth Castro, and while a little too elementary for me, I found her teaching technique extremely easy to read through. And it got me thinking.
Since Perl was originally designed to manipulate text, how easy would it be to design a program that takes a Perl construct and returns an english explaination of what it is trying to accomplish or doing? Something like you type the following into a form:
@classes = split(/,/, $class);
and the program returns an explanation such as:
"@classes" is an array being built from splitting the scalar variable "$class" into individual items separated by the argument between the "//", or in this case a "'".
Has anyone seen anything like this? Or is it even practical? Seems like it would be a great resource for beginners like me when trying to learn.
I have used the MAN pages and perldocs, but it is easier for me to learn when seeing application in different instances.
Any thoughts?
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Re (tilly) 1: Idea for Perl Learning Tool
by tilly (Archbishop) on Apr 29, 2001 at 06:01 UTC | |
by tye (Sage) on Apr 29, 2001 at 07:15 UTC | |
Re: Idea for Perl Learning Tool
by dze27 (Pilgrim) on Apr 28, 2001 at 22:51 UTC | |
by Chady (Priest) on Apr 29, 2001 at 00:51 UTC | |
by Dominus (Parson) on Apr 29, 2001 at 17:14 UTC | |
by dze27 (Pilgrim) on Apr 30, 2001 at 18:03 UTC | |
by Dominus (Parson) on Jul 15, 2001 at 20:49 UTC | |
Re: Idea for Perl Learning Tool
by larsen (Parson) on Apr 29, 2001 at 03:34 UTC | |
Re: Idea for Perl Learning Tool
by gregor42 (Parson) on Apr 30, 2001 at 17:52 UTC |