I used to be one to argue against the use of perl as a first language. I have to say I agree with the parent now though. What I like about perl (in a "strict" environment with no/minimal module use) is how it can be a "gateway drug" to other programming/scripting languages. If someone has perl as a first language they can move on easily in the directions of shell scripts, C, and/or C++/Java. There is overhead obviously in all of these directions, but IMHO the overhead comes from learning what makes each language special and not basic syntax.
The university I work at teaches java as an intro language. While I have no beef with java (it puts food on the table for me at the moment) I think some of the students get too caught up in trying to figure out OOP instead of the basics.
If you need a language though that you can either move on from to learn more or learn and hit the ground running with it I would have to recommend perl.
Who was responsible for their information being compromised. Last week I was informed by my bank that my debit card had been compromised and had to be turned off. I'm still waiting on my new card.
What irked me more than my information being compromised though was that neither the bank nor Shazam would disclose who the merchant was who was breached. When I asked the bank I was told that it would be "devastating" to the business. My point is, shouldn't it be? As I'm sure has been said here, this stuff probably happens everday without us knowing. Stupidity aside (like shipping unencrypted tapes via UPS), I can understand that some data is going to be compromised no matter what. What I don't understand is how a breached merchant can be allowed to remain anonymous and in cases of stupidity, the merchant isn't held accountable.
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I used to be one to argue against the use of perl as a first language. I have to say I agree with the parent now though. What I like about perl (in a "strict" environment with no/minimal module use) is how it can be a "gateway drug" to other programming/scripting languages. If someone has perl as a first language they can move on easily in the directions of shell scripts, C, and/or C++/Java. There is overhead obviously in all of these directions, but IMHO the overhead comes from learning what makes each language special and not basic syntax.
The university I work at teaches java as an intro language. While I have no beef with java (it puts food on the table for me at the moment) I think some of the students get too caught up in trying to figure out OOP instead of the basics.
If you need a language though that you can either move on from to learn more or learn and hit the ground running with it I would have to recommend perl.
Who was responsible for their information being compromised. Last week I was informed by my bank that my debit card had been compromised and had to be turned off. I'm still waiting on my new card.
What irked me more than my information being compromised though was that neither the bank nor Shazam would disclose who the merchant was who was breached. When I asked the bank I was told that it would be "devastating" to the business. My point is, shouldn't it be? As I'm sure has been said here, this stuff probably happens everday without us knowing. Stupidity aside (like shipping unencrypted tapes via UPS), I can understand that some data is going to be compromised no matter what. What I don't understand is how a breached merchant can be allowed to remain anonymous and in cases of stupidity, the merchant isn't held accountable.