Hal Keen <[log in to unmask]> [2006-12-26 15:22]:
> Again, Perl is the obvious choice, if you've got it.

I resisted the urge to reply the first time because it's OT, but
twice is too much. :)

In the words of the authors of _The Quick Python Book_:

"In spite of all this I will answer 'Yes' if asked, "Is Python what Perl
should have been?" Python is cleaner, easier to learn, and far more
suited to large programming projects than is Perl. The languages are
roughly equivalent in speed and capability, though Python possess some
significant features that are difficult or impossible to emulate in
Perl. The converse is not true, to my knowledge. Perl is better than
Python at its original task -- fast system administration scripting --
but Python can easily be used in this capacity."

The same author writes: 

"I knew and liked Perl long before I knew Python. I now use Python for
everything I previously used Perl for..."

Obviously, if someone knows Perl or Python it would be easier to code
this (seemingly) easy problem in the language they know, but if someone
who knows neither is considering which language to learn, Python is the
obvious choice, IMNSHO.

OK, I'll shut up now, and if anyone wants to debate the relative merits
of Perl and Python, please let's do it off-list.

And, to make this somewhat on-topic, if the person with the problem will
define it for me via email, I'll try to write a Python program that will
do what s/he wants. It would require that they install Python, but it's
very simple under Windows, and Python is included in all the major Linux
distributions. 

-rex
-- 
Python is executable pseudocode
Perl is executable line noise