[linux-help] Re: Perl Question

[Steven Saner <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Nov 17, 2002 at 08:37:47AM -0600, Lars von dem Ast wrote:
> 
> Thanks Koji and Steve for the input. I know what you're saying about
> languages. I looked long and hard at Python (maybe I'm still looking), but
> you can't beat Perl's "duct tape" effect. Perl seems to fit into the
> smallest cracks and the biggest gulfs, and the mountains of modules already
> out there! Python's catching up, though. I know that CGI is just a billowing
> mass of print statements, and as such adds another layer of complexity to
> getting ugly ugly HTML to behave itself.
> 
> Another question: What's your take on .NET? It seems to me that if you use
> XML and SOAP, you don't need to buy into the Microsoft virtual machine.

I don't know what all .NET is or isn't. I believe, however, that part
of it is simply Microsoft's implementation of SOAP. So, if you would
create some SOAP resources on a Unix machine, using perl, some other
application running on a Microsoft platform, using .NET could talk to
it.

> There's also Flash MX. The new Flash seems to offer everything the original
> Java applet did. You can now turn a Flash embed into a full app with forms,
> socket connections back to a server, the works, plus all the cool graphics
> tricks. I think Java applets failed due to immaturity of the technology, not
> because it was a bad concept.

I don't know anything about Flash...

Steve


> Lb
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven Saner" <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <linux-help@xxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 1:40 AM
> Subject: [linux-help] Re: Perl Question
> 
> 
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 17, 2002 at 12:07:35AM -0600, Lars von dem Ast wrote:
> > >
> > > All right then, what's so great about PHP? (I don't really know anything
> > > about it, but to me anything where code is embedded in HTML seems so
> > > primitive. Total dynamic page generation (as done with CGI) still seems
> the
> > > sleekest, best way. Or am I missing something? And PHP is yet another
> > > language to learn! With Java and Perl Web stuff you've got languages
> that
> > > can be used in other non-Web situations, too. Does PHP have a
> stand-alone
> > > language? Plus how do you scale with PHP or anything that is strictly
> > > embedded code in HTML? (I'm being curious, not offensive here.)
> >
> > Well, each to his own, of course, but CGI really is the more
> > primitive. The thing with CGI is that you have to create each dynamic
> > web page, in its entirety programatically. This can get kind of
> > difficult after a while. It also does not lend itself very well to a
> > situation where you have some people who are good at web design (look
> > and feel) and some people who are good at programming. If a web
> > designer comes up with some HTML and gives it to you, you then have to
> > convert all of that HTML into print statements for your CGI, that can
> > be difficult. And in my opinion the result isn't very sleek, because
> > the code doesn't hardly look like HTML anymore.
> >
> > The a templating concept, such as PHP, you start with HTML, which is
> > really what you want when it is all said and done anyway. You then
> > insert code into the places that need to have dynamic content. Also,
> > with something like PHP a single page can be generated from multiple
> > files, so you can separate constant elements (like a header and
> > footer) from dynamic elements (like a table build from data in a
> > database) and glue them all together.
> >
> > That said, I don't really like PHP either. In part because it is, as
> > you say, another language to learn. Also, since I am a perl
> > programmer, I have a lot of libraries and stuff in perl that I want to
> > use and it is difficult to do that within PHP. There are other options
> > than PHP, and one that I like very much is Mason (www.masonhq.com).
> > Mason is a templating system, much like PHP, but it is perl. This
> > means that the code that is embedded in HTML is plain old perl. Also,
> > I can use any perl library that I have written, or from CPAN and embed
> > it into HTML. It also runs under mod_perl with the Apache web server,
> > so performance is much better than the old standard CGI. There is a
> > new OReilly book on Mason that a couple of the core members of the
> > development team wrote, if you are interested. I do virtually all of
> > my web development based on Mason now.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> > --
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Steven Saner <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > -- This is the linux-help@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
> > visit http://www.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi
> >
> >
> 
> -- This is the linux-help@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
> visit http://www.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven Saner <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
-- This is the linux-help@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
visit http://www.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi