Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!noao!sharp
From: sharp@noao.edu (Nigel Sharp)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.icon
Subject: Re: Comparative Languages
Summary: Request re SNOBOL/Icon
Message-ID: <1991Apr10.212350.15137@noao.edu>
Date: 10 Apr 91 21:23:50 GMT
References: <C9931A3740801DA5@mis.mcw.edu> <1991Apr9.151451.6713@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: Nigel Sharp
Distribution: inet
Organization: National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson AZ
Lines: 18


I hope you will forgive a neophyte posting.
Some years ago I used SNOBOL/Spitbol for some tasks in pattern matching
(including literary manuscript analysis for author identification)
and algebra manipulation, and found it to be a very lovely language.
I may soon need to do some similar work, and have been following some
news groups to catch up to the state of the art.  I was wondering if one
of the current experts could tell me a) if a knowledge of Snobol helps,
b) if Icon is similar enough that I won't be starting from scratch, and
c) (sorry about this one) which books are recommended (the article I am
"following" mentioned one written by a literary type, but without
details).  My past experience lends me to favour Icon, as you might expect.

Before you notice I'm in Tucson and could walk across and ask the
inventors, let me say that I have too much respect to bother them
directly with such trivial questions.

Nigel Sharp, nsharp@noao.edu