newbie questions (Python vs. Perl)

Mon Apr 5 11:07:20 EDT 1999

In article <37082E26.A9445E43 at earthlink.net>,
  Phil Voris <noSPAMpvoris at earthlink.net> wrote:

[..]

> I've been using Perl for several months and don't find its syntax
> troublesome.  I like its speed considering I don't have to use C
> constructs (and memory management).  I'm considering learning Python for
> several reasons; but have questions and concerns:
>
> 1) I hear it's the best for learning OO.  I have heard high praise of
> Eifel as well, but information on it seems to be scarce at best.  (I
> have C and Perl experience)

Starting from http://www.elj.com/ (elj.com - Eiffel Liberty) you can
find all kinds of information relating to Eiffel, Perl, Python and
open source software. In relation to Eiffel, the following might help
with the information scarcity problem (which seems a common perception).

   -- For Python see: http://www.python.org/
   -- For Perl see:   http://www.perl.com/

For Eiffel ..

Online Books/Papers:
--------------------

 * Object-Oriented Software Engineering with Eiffel
   by Jean-Marc Jezequel
      http://www.irisa.fr/pampa/EPEE/book.html

   -- (This is my pick ..)
   -- NB: The first 4 chapters are available here in pdf format:
   --    http://www.irisa.fr/pampa/EPEE/oosewe.pdf

 * Object-Oriented Programming in Eiffel
   by Robert Rist
      http://www-staff.socs.uts.edu.au/~rist/eiffel/

   -- There are two main sections in the Online Eiffel book which
   -- are The language and Case study. You may read through The
   -- language part first then look at the Case study for examples
   -- of each topic covered in The language.

 * An Invitation to Eiffel
   by Bertrand Meyer
      http://www.eiffel.com/doc/manuals/language/intro/

   -- on-line introduction to the Eiffel method and language. This
   -- material was derived from chapter 1, An Invitation to Eiffel,
   -- of the book Eiffel: The Language, the official reference on
   -- Eiffel, published by Prentice Hall and available from bookstores
   -- as well as from ISE.

 * Eiffel: An Advanced Introduction
   by Alan A. Snyder and Brian N. Vetter
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/intro/

 * Into Eiffel
   by Ian Joyner
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/ij/into-eiffel/ij-into-eiffel.pdf

 * An Eiffel Overview
   by Richard Paige
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/rp/eiffel-overview.pdf
   -- see also summary of BON: http://www.elj.com/eiffel/rp/bon-intro.pdf

 * Downloadable Eiffel Papers page:
   collated by Roger Browne
      http://www.eiffel.tm/papers.htm

 * Why Eiffel?
   by Todd Plessel
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/why-eiffel/

Books:
------

 * Eiffel, The Language by Bertrand Meyer
   http://www.eiffel.com/doc/documentation.html#etl

 * Object Oriented Software Construction 2nd Edition by Bertrand Meyer
   http://www.eiffel.com/doc/oosc.html

 * for more books ..
   http://www.eiffel.com/doc/

Eiffel Langugage:
-----------------

Controlled by the Non-Profit International Consortium for Eiffel (NICE):

   http://www.eiffel-nice.org/

Eiffel Portability Issues:

   http://www.gobo.demon.co.uk/eiffel/gobo/portability/

Contributed documentation:

 * Eiffel, The Language by Bertrand Meyer
   http://www.eiffel.com/doc/documentation.html#etl

 * Eiffel: The Syntax by Eric Bezault
      http://www.gobo.demon.co.uk/eiffel/syntax/

 * Eiffel Syntax Diagrams
      ftp://eiffel.com/pub/doc/language/diagrams.ps.gz

 * Eiffel Kernel Library Standard 1995
      http://eiffel.com/doc/manuals/library/elks/
      http://www.gobo.demon.co.uk/eiffel/nice/elks95/

 * Eiffel Style Guide by Bertrand Meyer (from OOSC)
      http://eiffel.com/doc/manuals/language/style/

 * Eiffel: The Reference
      http://www.wiwi.uni-karlsruhe.de/info/doc/eiffel_ref/

   -- Roger writes .. ``Prepared by Neil Wilson as a
   -- proposed update to Bertrand Meyer's "Eiffel The Reference" -
   -- but NICE chose not to pursue it. Neil logged his
   -- changes, which include some pointers to parts of
   -- the specification worth reviewing.

Some language extensions include:

 * Precusor [All vendors have implemented this proposal]: 
http://www.eiffel.com/doc/manuals/technology/language/precursor/ 
http://www.eiffel.com/doc/manuals/technology/language/precursor/formal.html

 * [Proposed] Tuples:
      http://eiffel.com/doc/manuals/language/tuples/page.html

 * [Proposed] Creating objects of formal generic types
      http://eiffel.com/doc/manuals/language/generic-creation/page.html

 * [Proposed] Agents, introspection and iterators:
      http://eiffel.com/doc/manuals/language/agent/page.html

Eiffel Compilers:
-----------------

Eiffel Forum has a page titled ``Tools for Eiffel Developers'' here:

   http://www.eiffel-forum.org/archive/tools.htm

There should be a compiler there to fit your needs.

Eiffel Libraries:
-----------------

The Eiffel Forum Archive:

   http://www.eiffel-forum.org/archive/category.htm

Two libraries that you can learn much from are:

  * Eric Bezault's GOBO Eiffel Project (includes an Eiffel
    lex, yacc and data structures libraries):

       http://www.gobo.demon.co.uk/eiffel/gobo/

  * Pylon: a compact foundation library for writing portable
    Eiffel software and libraries.

       http://www.altsoft.demon.co.uk/free/pylon.html

    An excellent description of the Eiffel Conventions used
    in Pylon is provided here:

       http://www.altsoft.demon.co.uk/doc/pylonA.html

Eiffel Projects:
----------------

   http://www.eiffel.com/eiffel/projects/list.html
   http://www.eiffel.com/eiffel/projects/hp/creel.html

   http://www.elj.com/eiffel/projects/

Web sites?:
-----------

 * Eiffel Forum:
      http://www.eiffel-forum.org/

 * elj.com (Eiffel Liberty):
      http://www.elj.com/
      -- to all things Eiffel, plus a bit more ..
      -- There are dozens of sites to explore from elj.com

[Some other sites/papers ..]
----------------------------

 * Getting acquainted with Eiffel
   by Cameron Laird and Kathryn Soraiz (in SunWorld's Nov 98 Issue)
   http://www.sunworld.com/swol-11-1998/swol-11-regex.html#2

 * Eiffel for Native Speakers of C++
   by Patrick Doyle (C++ Report Mar 99 Issue)

   -- [An article to help] demystify some of the major concepts
   -- of the [Eiffel] language, including Design by Contract,
   -- Command-Query Separation, and multiple inheritance, by
   -- casting them in terms that C++ programmers can readily
   -- embrace.

 * Eiffel vs C++ (in 1989)
   by Bertrand Meyer
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/bm/eiffelvscpp89/

 * Design by Contract
   by Todd Plessel
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/dbc/

 * C++?? Critique (Version 3)
   by Ian Joyner
      http://www.elj.com/cppcv3/
      -- an updated book version is due mid-year from Prentice-Hall

 * Collective Hypnosis: Avoiding the Second Historic Mistake
   by Bertrand Meyer
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/bm/mistake/

 * A critique of Java
   by Harold Thimbleby
      http://www.cs.mdx.ac.uk/harold/papers/javaspae.html

 * Bertrand Meyer (Eiffel's main designer)
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/bm/

 * Ian Joyner
      http://www.elj.com/eiffel/ij/
      -- particularly - http://www.elj.com/eiffel/ij/correctness/

Finally, for fun:
-----------------

  * Academic Programmers - A Spotter's Guide
    by Pete Fenelon
    http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/hack/academic.html

> Will Python take me to the next level in terms of understanding OO?

For sure .. so will Perl (perltoot[1] did it for me [2,3]) and even
Eiffel.

  [1] perltoot: http://www.perl.com/CPAN/doc/manual/html/pod/perltoot.html
  [2] Realtime (30 min) Weather:
         http://www.tg.nsw.gov.au/nem/realtime/weather/all/
  [3] Realtime ( 5 min) Electricity Prices:
         http://www.tg.nsw.gov.au/nem/realtime/ppsd/all/

Geoff Eldridge -- ``Eiffel: Do what you want, when you want''

-- email: geoff at elj.com
-- elj-daily: http://www.elj.com/new/  -- daily Eiffel news, plus more ..

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