FAQ for the beginners mailing list
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beginners-faq - FAQ for the beginners mailing list
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This is a high traffic list (100+ messages per day), so please subscribe in the way which is best for you.
Yes, there is. It is located at:
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http://learn.perl.org/ supports the list
John SJ Anderson owns the beginners list. You can contact him at genehack@genehack.org.
John SJ Anderson, Kevin Meltzer and Ask Bjoern Hansen currently carry large, yet padded, clue-sticks to maintain peace and order on the list. If you are privately emailed by one of these folks for flaming, being off-topic, etc... please listen to what they say. If you see a message sent to the list by one of these people saying that a thread is closed, do not continue to post to the list on that thread! If you do, you will not only meet face to face with a XQJ-37 nuclear powered pansexual roto-plooker, but you may also be taken off of the list. These people simply want to make sure the list stays topical, and above-all, useful to Perl beginners.
3 October 2011
A list for beginning Perl programmers to ask questions in a friendly atmosphere.
Yes. As with most communities, there are rules. Not many, and ones that shouldn't need to be mentioned, but they are.
Basically, if it has to do with Perl, then it is allowed. You can ask CGI, networking, syntax, style, etc... types of questions. If your question has nothing at all to do with Perl, it will likely be ignored. If it has anything to do with Perl, it will likely be answered.
Subscribe to the list! If you see a question which you can give an idiomatic and Good answer to, answer away! If you do not know the answer, wait for someone to answer, and learn a little.
We don't want to see 'RTFM'. That isn't very helpful. Instead, guide the beginner to the place in the FM they should R :)
Please do not quote the documentation unless you have something to add to it. It is better to direct someone to the documentation so they hopefully will read documentation above and beyond that which answers their question. It also helps teach them how to use the documentation.
Look in the FAQ! Get acquainted with the 'perldoc' utility, and use it. It can save everyone time if you look in the Perl FAQs first, instead of having a list of people refer you to the Perl FAQs :) You can learn about 'perldoc' by typing:
perldoc perldoc
At your command prompt. You can also view documentation online at:
http://perldoc.perl.org and http://www.perl.com
The beginners-cgi list, as well as the beginners list are sister lists. Many people subscribe to both lists. The beginners-cgi list was created solely to seperate CGI questions from Perl-only questions. This means that you should never, ever cross-post to both lists unless given permission. So, if your question is CGI related, post it _only_ to beginners-cgi, if it is not CGI related, post to the beginners. If you, for some reason, can't determine if your question is CGI related, well, I don't know what to tell ya :)
Beware of Perl4-like code-- You might find some script archives and
unauthorized mirrors with old Perl4 versions of Selena Sol and Matt Wright
scripts. Don't use those scripts. They are outdated and may even in some
cases contain bugs or security problems since many may not have been updated
in years. Instead, double-check the master archives at:
Selena Sol (Perl4 and Perl5):
http://www.extropia.com
Matt Wright's Scripts Archive (All Perl 4)
http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/
When looking at scripts, remember the guidlines in 3.3, below, to make an informed decision
if a script is one you should be using, or learning from.
There are various criterea which can assist you in determining if a script you download is a good one. We generally recommend that beginners do not learn from Perl 4 scripts, or ones which may introduce bad habits. So, here are some tips on spotting the good code:
If you are ever in doubt, ask!
Glad you asked! There is indeed a place where you can ask all your Perl questions on IRC.
Please always think before you write; when you write you are taking the time of over a thousand people.
If what you write takes just 30 seconds to read, that's more than
8 hours(!) of time burned that could have been used writing code. :)
So please keep the following things in mind when posting:
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