Re: PHP vs Perl question

> I'm pretty new to programming - besides JavaScript, PHP is really the first > language I've used. > I'm just wondering, and I'm sure you all would know - should I learn Perl? > Is it considered a necessity for a web developer to know Perl, or is it not > a worthwhile endeavor, considering how easy PHP is to learn and use? Someone > I know told me not to bother, but I just wanted a second opinion. > (BTW - if you think it is worthwhile to learn Perl, what is a good book to > begin with?) Yeah, you should learn Perl. Programming Perl by O'Reilly is the best book out there for that. Then check out the Perl Cookbook by O'Reilly after that. Perl is much more powerful than PHP, but PHP is easier to integrate in to web pages. But not by much. Perl is like a swiss army chainsaw. You can use it for pretty much anything, data manipulation wise. That's where it really shines. PHP has gotten better with PHP4's release, but Perl's syntax is much more lenient and intuitive, making it much easier to do things in Perl than it is in PHP. -Ryan :: ICQ - 595003 :: GigaBoard - http://www.gigaboard.net/