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AFAIK one of the objectives of Stack Overflow is to make sure anyone can come here and find good answers to her Perl related questions. Certainly beginners would ask what is the best online source to learn Perl but others might just want to ask a question.
Probably the friendliest place is the Monastery of Perl Monks. It is a web site with a rating system similar to but more simple than Stack Overflow. You can find lots of good answers there and if you don't find an answer you can always ask.
The other big resource would be the mailing list of your local Perl Mongers group.
Where do you go when you are looking for an answer to a Perl related question?
It's worth noting that http://perlmonks.org, in addition to the fora, has the Chatterbox, where simple questions can be answered immediately in conversation with other users.
It requires setting up an account and logging in before using the Chatterbox, though.
Thus far, I've been pretty content with the quality of Perl answers I've seen here. Many of the most experienced Perl programmers I know from conferences, Perlmonks, use.perl.org, etc. seem to be present here and answering questions seriously and clearly. In cases where an answer has been wrong or simply bad in a sense of promoting bad practice, those answers have been quickly identified, voted down and/or commented-upon.
I'm a great fan of Perlmonks, but it's a different sort of site than this one. Besides being specific to Perl, it also has separate areas set aside for reviewing modules, posting code snippets, reviewing books, etc.
Best place: here. Each time I asked, I got correct answers, in less than 20 minutes. Faster that anywhere else.
I've never asked questions, but that's probably because I tend to write simple scripts rather than applications.
Have always found the Perldoc site to be a good way to work out how to do stuff - and I normally learn a bit more whilst looking.
Sometimes, it might be worthwhile to try to get help via IRC. Quite some time ago, I found the #perl channel on the freenode network to be pretty friendly and helpful. As always it's important that you have exhausted the normal means of solving your problem: Read the documentation, search the web, etc.
However, I'll also take this opportunity to mention where you should not go asking for help: The #perl channel on MagNet aka irc.perl.org. It's a channel where people just hang out and talk about essentially anything but help requests. However, on that network, there's quite a few channels particularly about certain Perl-related projects. The people who lurk in those may well be the primary authors of the relevant piece of software. Those channel's aren't help desks either, but if you have a very challenging and interesting problem, you might be able to get them interested enough to help you. Just make sure you do your homework first and be prepared to get involved yourself.
For documentation on Perl builtins and standard modules, perldoc.perl.org is an web version of the Perl docs with pretty colors and such. I use a keyword bookmark, pd for this.
For finding modules, search.cpan.org is the place to go; for this I use the keyword pm.
When you have a question that requires humans to answer, Perl Monks is my preferred place, though Stack Overflow seems to have attracted a good crowd already.
Usenet is pretty good too
comp.lang.perl.misc, comp.lang.perl.modules and comp.lang.perl.moderated are good places to ask questions IMHO.
The Official Perl 5 Wiki is another great resource with lots of info and links.
(Also see the bottom of the wiki home page for the latest headlines from the Planet Perl feed aggregator. It's useful to look at, because it sometimes suggests questions that you didn't know that you should be asking.)
Incidentally, an ambitious stackoverflow Perl fan could also add a new section to the Perl 5 wiki pointing to questions answered on stackoverflow (and perhaps vice versa).
I favor use.perl.org over perlmonks. I'm not sure why. It's a smaller community, maybe the signal to noise ratio is higher for me.
Incidentally, I get good answers there to any question, not just Perl questions. I ask Java questions, Linux questions, sometimes even cultural questions, and there's always someone there who knows. :)
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Perl Beginners mailing list.
I like IRC, try #perl on irc.perl.org or irc.freenode.net, or maybe #perlhelp on irc.efnet.nl. Lots and lots of very clever, helpful people always willing to discuss perl-related issues.
Maybe I'll see you there :)
I don't have a specific site, but tend to just google the main keywords of what I am looking for. There are many sites out there, however, I have got the best responses here for very specific stuff.
Have a big AIM/Jabber list filled with knowledgeable Perl people you're friends with.
I talk to my imaginary friends on #catalyst, #perl and other channels on irc.perl.org.
[edit] Bearing in mind that due to the limitations of non face to face communication with people you don't really know, you need to be simultaneously respectful of people whom it might superficially look like are being very rude to you. It pays to be thick skinned on IRC.
I would say Stackoverflow
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I just completed with one of my applications which is now ready to be tested. But before submitting my application I want to make sure I have used appropriate comments wherever required. Though I use comments in most of my applications but it is this time I have realized that my application is quite complex and thus for the purpose of reviewing the code again and for functional understanding I need proper commenting. I was also worried about the amount of commenting in my application.
What I am looking for are standard commenting practices we need to follow in IPhone development.
Kindly assist.
Good Comments say "why" you did something, not "what" you did.
I usually implement comments in the following situations, (this is by no means exhaustive), and any developer reviewing or debugging your application would appreciate them in these situations:
When I use a third-party or otherwise obscure library;
In deep-nested control structures when they cannot be avoided;
When implementing my own protocols in Obj-C (when they are not obvious);
And in general when something is not obvious to you and/or a potential reviewer
EDIT: And I also suggest implementing sparingly, if you did not get that from the post. It is annoying to read code that is near the over-commenting threshold. You do not want to feel like you are reading an introduction to programming book.
There is nothing special with regard to comments and iPhone development.
Personally I prefer readable (self-documenting) code over comments. That is, using meaningful method and variable names to make the purpose of the code understood. If it still can't be understood then comments might be useful, but don't make them too long. A problem with long comments is that they might fall out of sync with the sources and become misleading.
I think links to other sources of documentation are good, such as stackoverflow questions, bug databases, etc.
These, to me, are the golden principles:
Comments should never explain code (use self-explanatory code with proper names and indentation).
Don't insult the reader's intelligence with unnesseary comments
Comment by code block (if you need to explain a process, don't use seperate comments on each line of the code block).
When Im commenting my code, I act as if I had some half wit programmer sitting right next to me asking me "what does this code do, and why are you doing it?" Ill reply in a nutshell of an answer.
My response to him is what I comment.
// now that we got the data we need lets store it in the Settings Array
// check for NULL if null, change to None Selected
// make sure there is an object here so we dont crash
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I'm particularly interested in Windows PowerShell, but here's a somewhat more general complaint:
When asking for help on learning something new, be it a small subject on PHP or understanding a class in Java, what usually happens is that people direct me towards the documentation pages.
What I'm looking for is somewhat of a course. A deep explanation of why something works the way it does.
I know my basic programming, like Java and C#. I've never seen C or C++, though I have seen a bit of assembler. I know what the Stack and Heap are, how boxing and unboxing works, why you have to deep-copy an array instead of copying the pointer and some other things.
Windows PowerShell on the other hand, I know nothing about. And I notice that when reading the small document or some code, I usually forget what it does or why it works.
What I am looking for is preferably, a nice tutorial that explains the beginnings, the concepts, and goes to more difficult things at a steady pace.
The only thing documentation can do is explain what a function does. That's no good to me since I don't know what I want to do yet. I could read about a thousand functions, and forget about most of them, because I don't need to implement them right after it. Randomly wandering through the documentation doesn't do me any good.
So conclude, what is a good tutorial on Windows Powershell? One which explains in clear language what is happening, one which builds on previous things learned.
I don't think googling this is a good idea. Doing a Google search on this would turn up numerous tutorials. And experience tells me that you have to look long and hard to find the gem you're looking for. That's why I'm asking here. Because this is the place where you can find more experienced people. Many of the PowerShell guys among you will know the good ones already, and by asking you, I avoid wasting time that could be spent learning. So to summarize: I will not google this!
I wrote a free eBook along these lines. I will let you be the judge of whether or not it is good but my goal was to provide folks with a good mental model for how PowerShell works. You can download it from here. It is about 60 pages or so. You can find a more comprehensive free ebook online called Master-PowerShell.
Of course, you can peruse StackOverflow for Q&A and also ask questions as you have them.
I like this one
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2005/10/msh.ars/2
I wouldn't consider doing research on a programming language a failure, even if it takes you forever to find that "gem" you are looking for. Searching for awesome material is an art and the more you do it, the better you get at it. The community won't always be able (or willing) to answer all of your questions for you, especially if they know you haven't done your due diligence to look something up.
"What tutorial do you recommend for learning PowerShell?" might be an answer to your question.
I like to use the O'Reilly Pocket Reference versions of books to get started in a new subject. Easy to take with you on the plane, on a lunch break, or in the necessary (beats People magazine).
Here's the Windows PowerShell Pocket Reference at Amazon. $6.84 for a Used copy.
When you are learning a new subject or technology what ways do you use to remember your achievements ?
In the past I have used a variety of methods including some of the following :-
Paper-based Journal (A4 paper cut in half with a guillotine, and bound with a plastic spine.) I keep this chronologically, and frequently reorder the pages to group continuations or similar pages together.
Emails - I frequently email snippets of code to myself
Test programs - Short self-contained snippets of project code.
ProtoPage.com - web based repository of notes.
Memory - frequently the least reliable method, but occasionally it's better.
Finally :-
Stack overflow - I previously asked a question on here as I was working on the solution. Then came back to provide my own answer. Is this an acceptable use of Stack overflow ? Banging in questions as I think of them, and then coming back to provide an answer an hour, few hours, or maybe days later whn I've worked through it. Maybe coming back in the meantime to see what answers I'm getting, maybe providing me with new directions to try.
I was tempted to create a blog where I can store all these kinds of voyages of discovery I have but I think there may be greater value putting it on here.
Thoughts, opinions, and your methodologies girls and guys please.
If you build a core library for all your applications, you can use that for reference/commenting etc. You dont need to remember the full implementation of code, you just need to rememeber a reference to where it is (which is naturally/structurally categories by your code)
The thing is a Blog is exactly the means to achieve what you are wanting to. Its an online reference, allows for collaboration and you won't get shot to pieces when you post "random" questions on SO all day long, and answer them in a week when you find the answers.
SO is basically Q&A whereas a blog is a running counter of your problems and solutions to your coding problems.
It doesn't hurt either, can get some nice recognition from your blog, and gain yourself some reputation/followers in a community.
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I am a bioinformatics student and am in the process of learning perl. I don't have a strong programming background but would like for that to change.
Right now I am in the process of reading/following and coding from this book
I want to know is this the best way to go about learning perl? Should I be experimenting with regular expressions more? Should I keep trying writing sample perl scripts?
Related: what are good books for learning perl
The definitive learning Perl book is aptly called "Learning Perl". Get it.
I cannot recommend writing sample scripts. Try to write something that you need. It doesn't have to be a big endeavor; everyone needs a little tool now and then. Writing sample scripts is boring; always was, always will be.
This seems like a potential duplicate as here are some related questions:
What are the best resources to starting learning Perl?
What’s the best online source to learn Perl?
Like most other answers on this post I can't disagree with the choice of "Learning Perl" as your first Perl text. Keep a copy of the perldoc documentation available for quick reference(I prefer using the html/pdf format which is available as a download from the main page).
In order to keep things from getting boring, especially in the initial stages I started converting my shell scripts to Perl, hacking away at it until I had three or more different versions of the same program with decreasing file size(not great for maintenance though). But then you know what they say - TMTOWTDI. Now I don't bother with shell scripts any more, writing it in Perl results in smaller turnaround times and the code can be easily reused and enhanced.
Once you are familiar with the more advanced concepts and are approaching a level of comfortability with using it for your day-to-day work or just simple one-liners you might want to have a look at Mark Jason Dominus' Higher-Order Perl which, according to me, takes the language and the reader's understanding of it to an entirely new level. The chapter on "Recursion and Callbacks" was a real eye-opener and changed my style completely from that of writing C-programs in Perl to actually writing "Perl" programs in Perl.
I use the online book "Learning Perl the Hard Way" to teach my coworkers about Perl.
Don't be intimidated by the title, it's just that it's directed at programmers who are already fluent in another language and therefore it doesn't focus on the programming part, but mostly on the Perl part, so it may apply better to your case (or not).
You really can't go wrong with the Lama book
Learning Perl
There's quite a library of O'Reilly books on Perl. Programming Perl is also excellent and probably worth having to complement the Lama book - I have both on my shelves and although I haven't needed to code in Perl for quite some time I found these books together a solid enough combination. The Perl Cookbook came in useful too (yes, this is one of those areas that O'Reilly has pretty much sew up :-).
As to practical exercises, Perl does have something of a reputation as a 'Write Only' language, so look for clear examples and if you are confused by anything don't necessarily assume that the problem is you - there's always more than one way to do it.
You also might want to look for examples of good code to study.
My experience is that there's nothing better for learning than doing. But you need someone to provide feedback, especially when you hit roadblocks that you can't get past. Stackoverflow is good for that, but, IME, Perlmonks is better in that there is a chatterbox for immediate feedback, as well as their question-and-answer posts for longer questions, combined with a more specialised environment. (And Larry Wall has been rumoured to hang out there, too, as well as a number of the authors of the above-referred-to books.)
Learn by doing. Get the books mentioned by others, but the real way to learn is to start a simple project. Mine was a Gtk based SQL editor. If you run into problems ask questions here and on the Perl Beginners list.
The choice of book is can be vary from person to person. So, as bioinformatics student who use perl, don't get any book that called "(X Programming language) for bioinformatics". Usually this kind of book is either.
They only give very basic of that programming language. You gonna to miss all the power from that language.
Wasting its space on how to use API, which you can find information easily via google.
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I am new to any scripting language. But, still I worked on scripting a bit like tailoring other scripts to work for my purpose. For me, what is the best online resource to learn Perl?
If you already know a bit of perl, PerlMonks is a great online resource. You can ask questions in their Seekers of Perl Wisdom section and the answers are often of very high quality. Many people who keep up with the latest developments in Perl hang out there.
As an added bonus, if you ask a clear question, many times the people there take the time to look at the underlying problem and will point out alternate approaches rather than simply taking your question at face value.
I realize that the question is about online sources, but I taught myself Perl in about three weeks thanks to the following books:
Learning Perl
Intermediate Perl
I already had a little bit of background knowledge in C, but the way these books teach is phenomenal. Scripts I've written in Perl are currently powering the data analysis process used by some instrument teams on the UA/NASA Phoenix Mars Lander - and I'm a junior in college! If it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for you :)
The perldoc documentation is the best source for understanding how to use the language well.
The camel book "Programming Perl" is an excellent printed reference with thorough explanations written by the same people who wrote the perldocs (other books with animals on them are mostly ok.) Beware online tutorials - many of them teach very sloppy perl.
Use 'warnings' and 'strict' - then perl will be very helpful in pointing out your errors.
Perlmonks is also great (they will also tell you to use 'warnings' and 'strict'.)
And then you have to learn the CPAN one module at a time (which is where perlmonks and mailing lists are very helpful.)
http://learn.perl.org/
From the Online Library:
Beginning Perl
Impatient Perl
I highly recommend starting with Simon Cozens' Beginning Perl book.
And also, reading the Perl documentation.
Perl is in a state of (comparatively) rapid change, and has gotten into the position where the best documentation beyond a basic introduction to Perl 5 -- the current major version -- is the electronic documentation which comes with the language itself.
Read 'perldoc perlintro', then look to 'perldoc perl' for the rest of the core language documentation. Note that on Debian systems, you'll need to 'apt-get install perl-doc' to get this documentation.
Once you've got a handle on things, check out 'perldoc perldelta' to see what's new in the version of Perl installed on your system (which should be 5.8.8 or 5.10 these days -- much cool stuff in 5.10!). If the perldelta page isn't making any sense (and believe me, I remember how that feels), just come back to it later.
Finally, freenode #perl for questions you can't find answers to in the docs.
The Official Perl 5 Wiki is a great resource with lots of info and links, and it aims to be beginner-friendly.
Also see the bottom of the wiki home page for the latest headlines from the Planet Perl feed aggregator. It's useful to skim over every few days, because it sometimes answers questions that you didn't know enough to ask, but which you should be asking.
I would very much recommend Programming Perl, but beware you may need a subscription to Safari in order to read it online.
As other people noted, the online book Beginning Perl has a good reputation and is written by a very clueful expert and active Perl contributor. Other than that, I concentrated resources for beginners in the Perl Beginners' Site, and you can probably find something there that would be to your liking.
If you are a beginner, I would suggest you take a look at the cookbook provided by PLEAC. You can find it at http://pleac.sf.net. There you can find cookbooks for most languages.
A new resource is chromatic's Modern Perl, which is available for free online, though you may purchase a paper copy if you prefer.