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I, for one, find Python code much more readable than Perl code, especially when going back to it (or reading someone else's). Simple things are usually a little easier to do in Perl, but Python scales up very nicely. For Web applications, I like XML, XSLT, and CSS (http://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing/2005/04/web_application.html). Once you push enough of the interface functionality into those, the remaining interface code can even be written in Java without too much pain. --Th -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Gray Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 10:25 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Perl or Python? I have two pieces of advice. 1) This one I take from Philip Greenspun <http://philip.greenspun.com/panda/databases-interfacing>: Don't switch. If you already know one of these tools, stay with what you know and leverage your existing expertise; any of these tools can get the job done. Be suspicious of religious bias behind any other advice. 2) Take any excuse you can to learn Python; you'll be glad you did. (Sorry if my religion is showing through ;) Chris "The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office." -Robert Frost On Fri, 1 Apr 2005, Ed Summers wrote: > On Thu, Mar 31, 2005 at 10:04:30PM -0500, NCR Lab wrote: > > However, I'm getting a bit tired of doing the command-line thing, so > > i've been looking at python and perl and trying to figure out which > > would be better to create a web-based interface to enter data and > > display queries. Or maybe I should just use php? > > I would second the suggestion for PHP. If you are just getting your feet > wet with web programming PHP is a logical choice since it streamlines > some things for you. You can start out by simply including some code in your > HTML source, and gradually build up to where you are building a complete > web application. > > That said, I think that python and perl have a great deal more > versatility for building non-web applications. If you are > looking for a language that you can learn and use for other tasks I > would recommend looking at Python (just my preference). If you are > looking for the right tool for this particular job you have in front of > you I'd investigate using PHP. Learning PHP by O'Reilly is a good book > to start with. > > If you are feeling adventurous it might also be worthwhile considering ruby > and the ruby-on-rails [1] web framework. ruby is a youngest language in the > same family as python and perl. rails has been getting a lot of press in > the past year for its elegance and simplicity. That said it probably > appeals most to people who are fed up with other web frameworks :) > > //Ed > > [1] http://www.rubyonrails.org/ >