Larry Wall at OSCON: Open Source as a Parenting Experience

[dcolby5]

A question for anybody reading this who understands programming: can a person who sucks at math and knows literally nothing about computer science learn programming?

[pavelow36]

@dcolby5 if you mean "math" as logic more so than "math" as numbers then yes. anyone who can visualize a process flow can actually program. learning how to program is not grabbing a programming book and reading it from cover to cover. you should start from the end -- think of a project that you want to do (eg: create a address book, create a ball that moves around on your screen, etc) then decide on a language that you'll use to make that possible. lather, rinse, repeat.

[johnpc831]

This gives me the impression that Perl 6 is going to be a complete re-write. Is this the case?

BTW, I love Larry's comment about "induced drag" as scale gets larger and the need for more discipline in this situation (as compared to Java). This has been my sentiment for years.

[anexiole]

Larry, met up with Damian days ago. Love what Perl 6 is gonna be like;)

[amadaman]

LW in da house!