Programming is Hard, Let's Go Scripting... (O'Reilly)

[Posted December 11, 2007 by cook]

Perl creator Larry Wall discusses the history of a number of programming languages on O'Reilly's Perl.com. "I think, to most people, scripting is a lot like obscenity. I can't define it, but I'll know it when I see it. Here are some common memes floating around: Simple language "Everything is a string" Rapid prototyping Glue language Process control Compact/concise Worse-is-better Domain specific "Batteries included" ...I don't see any real center here, at least in terms of technology. If I had to pick one metaphor, it'd be easy onramps. And a slow lane. Maybe even with some optional fast lanes."

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