OT: base64 decoding

[Fairlight]

In the relative spacial/temporal region of
Thu, May 07, 2009 at 04:46:15PM -0400, John Esak achieved the spontaneous
generation of the following:
> I've been working in Python too lately.  Just running through the beginning
> book... And it is so powerful.  I think I said this a year or so ago, too.

Very powerful.  I can think of at least two games by name off the top of my
head, and I know there are over a dozen more out there all written in
Python or Stackless Python.  EVE Online and Civilization IV are the two I
can name off the top of my head.  EVE is nothing short of amazing in scope
and features.

> But now, I'm actually putting together little python scripts to do things on
> my PDA which is Linux based and uses python for everything.  Someone,
> probably Mark, then piped up how PERL is just as good or better... Don't
> remember, really.... Only thing I know is that learning python just enough
> to write small scripts gets you doing more stuff on a large basis faster
> than it ever happened for me in PERL.  PERL seems to be concerned with the
> workings of things on a very small, granular basis, lots of string stuff and
> anything you need is in there somewhere.  But, python gets you doing
> pragmatic usable things faster.  Maybe, most people who use PERL (and Bill,
> I know you use it lots) think it's the thing to use for anything.  I would

Well, there's the thing.  My attitudes are subject to change over time.  I
used to think if it wasn't done in C, it wasn't worth writing.  Then I got
into perl and my attitudes about it completely changed.  I tossed over C
for perl and maintain just enough to port or debug C, but not develop in it
even remotely cost effectively anymore compared to perl.

I would seriously consider switching to python -if- I didn't have years
invested in it, and a lack of time and energy to want to start from scratch
in something new.  There are parts of perl I'd still like to dink with that
I've never gotten around to, actually.

I know Bill switched, and he had a lot more invested in perl time-wise
thatn I.  I just...I dunno.  When I need something done, I need to -do- it,
and since I already have the base skills in one, I'm not likely to switch
and dump one for the other for a particular project.  And things aren't
conducive to switching "for the fun of learning it" at this point in time
like they have been in the past.

> function.  There is huge philosophy and community stuff out there on how and
> why and what python is ... I avoid it all.  :-)  I'm just learning to make

There is for perl as well.  I'll post in the GUI perl/Tk group on USENET,
but -not- in comp.lang.perl.misc unless my life depends on it.  Those
people will bitch about every single thing that's wrong with your
formatting, and overlook the pertinent logic/syntax/flow issues entirely.
They're largely useless, honestly.  I tried them twice and gave up for
good.  They're zealots of the worst kind, I swear.

The only religious programming bandwagon I'll hop on (or maybe start) is
the use of the term "scripting".  I consider it a pejorative.  Programming
is programming, whether it's done in C, perl, python, cobol, fortran,
basic, bourne shell, or csh.  I absolutely hate it when someone belittles
something as "simply scripting" when just as much craftsmanship goes into
it as if you wrote it in C.

mark->