On Wed, 2005-05-25 at 02:03 +0200, Ralf Corsepius wrote: > On Tue, 2005-05-24 at 19:34 -0400, Claude Jones wrote: > > > Well, since I started this never-ending thread, maybe I can introduce a new, > > but very related question to my original - > > Given that my original question had to with generating a script/program to add > > a number to the end of the number part of a long series of file names that > > included both a number and a descriptive, and since I see that there were > > many different approaches to solving this little problem, all of which were > > way above my head, I would like to tackle one language and start learning > > some programming/scripting skills. So, if you guys had it to start all over, > > and were essentially rank beginners, which language would you tackle first? > > "sh" aka "shell" and the standard (POSIX) tools underneath. > > As I see it, these form "the standard toolbox" to solve such kind of > problems, comparable to your "mechanical toolbox", containing screw > drivers, screw wrenches, files and saws etc., you probably have at home > to solve "standard home problems". > > Anything else comes later. What actually make sense to you highly > depends on your demands/needs. Remember: All languages are "just tools", > all are suitable to certain classes of problems, none of them is > suitable to all kind problems. To add to this, I can heartily recommend the book "The Unix Programming Environment" by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike (see: http://cm.bell- labs.com/cm/cs/upe/). It's an excellent introduction not only to "sh" scripting but also to the entire philosophy of the way things work in Unix (and it all applies equally well to Linux of course). It also introduces you to sed, awk and a few other tools. It's really really good. Really. Paul. -- Paul Howarth <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
