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000061_icon-group-sender _Wed Apr 28 22:07:34 1993.msg
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Received: by cheltenham.cs.arizona.edu; Wed, 5 May 1993 05:23:54 MST
Date: 28 Apr 93 22:07:34 GMT
From: pipex!warwick!qmw-dcs!qmw!demon!cix.compulink.co.uk!pmoore@uunet.uu.net (Paul Moore)
Subject: Re: "Find that Niche!" contest?
Message-Id: <memo.173077@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Sender: icon-group-request@cs.arizona.edu
To: icon-group@cs.arizona.edu
Status: R
Errors-To: icon-group-errors@cs.arizona.edu
Jan de Ruiter writes:
> The unique thing of Icon (IMHO, of course) is that it
> reduces development time so drastically that it actually
> pays to use it, even when the performance is
> interpreter-like.
Interestingly enough, this relates to my experiences. The important thing
about Icon is that it is about string processing. Huge amounts of the time
people spend using computers involves string processing, so any language
which makes this easy, tends to win in the "quick program" department. (For
bigger projects, other considerations come into play, such as ease of reuse,
configuration management, etc)
Now, I have access to both perl and Icon. Both are good for quick string
hacking programs. Perl is 100% interpreted, and so the cycle is "type the
program in, run it, work out what went wrong, fix & rerun ...". With Icon,
where there is a compile stage, the cycle, while similar, FEELS more like
"write a program, test it, fix errors, and once working, run it for real".
That is, perl programs tend to converge on the behaviour you want (and may
never get there - you may stop when you have something "good enough"),
whereas Icon programs are designed to do what you want, and debugged until
they work.
This is more opinion/psychology than hard fact, but perhaps it explains why
I use perl more than Icon - I think I can get away with a quick hack, until
it is too late and I realise I should have designed more carefully from the
start. On the other hand, it does mean that I tend to use Icon when I want
something that *works*.
Not faults of the language(s), [of course, you can write well designed
perl code - all I am saying is that *I* don't, often...] but definitely
different "flavours" to them...
Just my penny worth,
Gustav (pmoore@cix.compulink.co.uk)