[Tutor] Beginning Python From Perl

[Steve Willoughby]

On 08-Nov-11 14:14, Jihad Esmail wrote:
> Hi! I am new to this list so stick with me. I've recently taken interest
> in learning Python. I have already learned Perl. How should I go about
> learning Python from Perl? Please help. Thanks!

I, too, was a long-standing Perl programmer before diving into Python. 
The most important thing, and I just can't stress this enough, is that 
you should seek to understand Python on its own terms first.  Learn the 
idioms and best practices of Python.  Perl and Python (and C and Ruby 
and Java and... and ...) each have their strengths, weaknesses, and 
their own way of approaching a problem.

If you just try to frame a program as you would in Perl, and "translate" 
the code into Python straight across, you'll get really crappy Python 
code and have a miserable time doing it.  Don't program in Perl in 
Python, in other words.

(Substitute "Perl" and "Python" with arbitrary languages of your choice.)


-- 
Steve Willoughby / steve at alchemy.com
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
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