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Scripters in the Enterprise

5 replies on 1 page. Most recent reply: Feb 28, 2003 11:43 AM by TRC

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Bill Venners

Posts: 2284
Nickname: bv
Registered: Jan, 2002

Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 24, 2003 11:26 PM
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Chad Dickerson writes, "If you put the world's most talented Java developer and the world's best Perl programmer in a room and gave them an unstructured textual document to parse, I would put my money on the Perl programmer to finish first."

Read this short InfoWorld.com article, Tools for the Short Hike, by Chad Dickerson:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/02/21/08connection_1.html

Here's a longer excerpt:

If you put the world's most talented Java developer and the world's best Perl programmer in a room and gave them an unstructured textual document to parse, I would put my money on the Perl programmer to finish first. When you're going on a one-mile hike, you shouldn't weigh yourself down with a full set of silverware, a saw, scissors, and an inflatable boat just in case you run into a raging river. You take a light backpack, a bottle of water, and a Swiss Army knife. That's the mentality behind scripting -- when going on a one-mile programming hike, the tools for climbing Everest will only weigh you down.

I would recommend to developers that they find a systems and a scripting language they are comfortable with, and get to know them well. The developer can then reach for the most appropriate tool for each particular job. The two languages I reach for most often are Java and Python, and I use them for different kinds of jobs. (In Chad's terms, I tend to use Python for short hikes, Java for longer ones.)

What's your opinion?


TRC

Posts: 6
Nickname: bdkr
Registered: Jan, 2003

Re: Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 25, 2003 7:15 AM
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So what is a large website then? A short hike or an expedition? And why would a scripting language NOT be good for the expedition?

Cheers,
Terrence

Bill Venners

Posts: 2284
Nickname: bv
Registered: Jan, 2002

Re: Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 25, 2003 8:02 AM
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> So what is a large website then? A short hike or an
> expedition? And why would a scripting language NOT be good
> for the expedition?
>
A large website is most likely many short hikes and a few long expeditions. I use both Python and Java behind the scenes at Artima.com, for example, because I have both scripty needs and systemsy needs. I use Python all the time, but I've never written a Python program that's in more than one file. I rarely write a Java program that's just in one file. Also, I tend to write Java in terms of APIs more than apps.

I've met many people who'd rather use a scripting language all the time, and I've met some people who'd rather use a systems language all the time. I think it is a matter of personality and taste. I prefer to use both. That's how I feel most productive.

TRC

Posts: 6
Nickname: bdkr
Registered: Jan, 2003

Re: Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 25, 2003 9:10 AM
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> A large website is most likely many short hikes and a
> few long expeditions.

This is an awesome answer!

I personally like the idea of using a scripting language then handing off to a compiled language at certain times. Those times would be the expeditions. :-)

Cheers,
Terrence

Anthony Eden

Posts: 83
Nickname: aeden
Registered: Feb, 2003

Re: Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 28, 2003 7:26 AM
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I agree with you on this one Bill. The combination of Java and Python for web application development is probably the best combination around, hence JPublish ( http://www.jpublish.org/ ) was spawned.

Personally I also keep Perl handy in my back pocket for those times when I need it.

TRC

Posts: 6
Nickname: bdkr
Registered: Jan, 2003

Re: Scripters in the Enterprise Posted: Feb 28, 2003 11:43 AM
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Please don't take this as adversarial or anything. It's not meant that way. I'm just curious why you consider Java and Python such a good combination. I've been very curious about Python in particular for some time, but also busy with other things.

Cheers,
BDKR

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