Python vs. Perl, which is better to learn?

[David J. Ritchie]

Brian Quinlan wrote:

> Paul Prescod has a rant about this:
> http://www.prescod.net/perl/whynot.html

An interesting discussion about Perl's understandability
difficulties (which I have experienced).  I particularly found
the part about a difficulty being when behavior is context sensitive
right on...i.e.:

> Behavior is frequently context sensitive
>      One of the basic principles of user interface design is consistency. Things should behave the same way no matter what their
>      context or what the current operating mode is. The same applies in programming languages. When you are reading a piece of
>      code you already need to keep a bunch of information in your head about the type of various objects and their state. Keeping
>      language-specific information in there also is just an extra burden....
>

To me, Python's use of indentation to identify
blocks of code is an example of
behavior being frequently context sensitive.

I originally thought the indentation thing was cute, cool,
and elegant but I must admit that over time the inability to
easily move blocks of code around without reformatting the
indentation is a pain.  Yes, yes, I know a suitably talented
editor can make the job easier but...

--
David J. Ritchie
ritchie at fnal.gov
http://home.fnal.gov/~ritchie
http://home.mindspring.com/~djrassoc01/