Re: [MacPerl] Perl in the workplace

[Richard Gordon <maccgi@bellsouth.net>]

At 21:17 -0700 6/12/1999, Robert Leach wrote:
>My job involves perl programming, database work, server & website
>up-keep, html, java, C++, UNIX, and SQL.
>
>Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of doing this work on a mac vs.
>Linux/Sun/Solaris/PC machine or tips on what software will enable me to
>even do my work on a mac?

Assuming that you have telnet access to the server, it's probably 
academic which workstation you use. I routinely use Better Telnet and 
Anarchie Pro to work with Solaris servers via PPP and, offhand, don't 
know of anything much that you can do with telnet/ftp from Linux or 
Windoze that you can't do from MacOS.

Altho I also run mkLinux, I usually work out of MacOS because I am 
more comfortable with the interface and I like to use dual monitors 
so that everything is always in view (the single best feature of the 
Mac in my opinion). While I can use telnet to run Emacs off of the 
server, I find that BBEdit is a lot easier to deal with when writing 
scripts and its integration with MacPerl is very useful for syntax 
checking and the like (it also provides ftp access so that you can 
edit scripts that are on the server). However, I've found it 
counterproductive to attempt to get cgi scripts to run on the Mac 
using either MacPerl or MacPython if the actual production server is 
unix. There are too many weird things that happen on the Mac that 
disappear under Solaris- maybe it's memory management or the 
limitations of using AppleEvents, but cgi development can be obtuse 
enough without complicating things unduly.

As far as website things go, using the Mac would be good for working 
with image editors like FireWorks, trick stuff like Flash, or if you 
prefer to use a graphical html editor, GoLive and DreamWeaver are 
professional quality products that (I don't think) run on Linux. I 
would forget about using the Mac for Java (way too slow, just develop 
in Solaris) and if your C++ stuff is supposed to run under unix, I 
would use telnet and do all that development there as well.

While there are some SQL-enabled databases that run on Macs, I'd 
again just telnet to the server where the application is going to run 
and do everything there.

The upshot is that worknig from home and using telnet, it wouldn't 
matter what platform you used. The selling points for the Mac are 
smooth interface, multiple monitor support, and the relative ease 
with which you can fix things when they break vs. the mysteries of 
Windoze or Linux. The downside is price disparity, but you'll just 
have to talk your way around that.


Richard Gordon
--------------------
Gordon Consulting & Design
Database Design/Scripting Languages
mailto://richard@richardgordon.net
770.565.8267

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