Perlmind Programming Journal (PMPJ) -- Sunday, April 12, 2015
The Perlmind Programming Journal (PMPJ) is
a record from the very start of how the Mentifex Strong AI Mind project moves beyond REXX and Forth and JavaScript into the Perl programming environment.
Sun.12.APR.2015 -- Mentifex AI moves into Perl.
Since the Mentifex AI Minds are in need of a major algorithmic revision,
it makes sense to reconstitute the Mentifex Strong AI in a new
programming environment, namely Perl, beyond the original Mentifex
encampments first in REXX (1993-1994), then in Forth (1998-present)
and finally in JavaScript (2001-present). With Perl, we remain in
a scripting language, but a language more modern and more prevalent
than Forth. We savor the prospect of ensconcing our Perl mind-modules
within the prestigious and Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN),
where we already proposed some AI nomenclature a dozen years ago.
With Perl we open up the mind-boggling and Mind-propagating vistas
of seeding the noosphere with explosively metastatic and metempsychotic
Perl AI that can transfer its files and its autopoiesis instantaneously
across and beyond the vastness of the World Wide Web.
Sun.12.APR.2015 -- Downloading the Perl Language
Next we need to do a Google search-and-deploy mission for obtaining
a viable version of the Perl language for our Acer Aspire One netbook
running Windows XP home edition.
Ooh, sweet! When we search for "download Perl" on Google, we are immediately
directed to
http://www.perl.org/get.html which presents to us a choice among the
Unix/Linux, MAC OS X, and Windows operating systems. Although we wish
we were on 64-bit Linux so that we could be listed in a
GNU/Linux AI website, we had better choose between
ActiveState Perl and Strawberry Perl for our current Windows XP platform.
Let's click on the link for
Download Strawberry Perl because it is a
100% Open Source Perl for Windows without the need for binary packages.
Perl.org recommends that we use the "latest stable version, currently 5.20.2."
and Strawberry Perl 5.20.2.1 (32 bit) is offered to us. When we first
click on the download, a Security Warning asks is whether we
want to run or save this 68.6MB file. We click to save the file on our
Acer Aspire One netbook. Huh? Almost instantaneously, after we see that
the target will be our Acer C-drive, we get a pop-up window that says that
we have completed a download not of 68.6 megabytes, but that we have
downloaded 116KB in one second to
C:\strawberry-perl-5.20.2.1-32bit.msi and we may now click on
"Run" or "Open Folder" or "Close". Let us click on "Run" to see
what happens. Now we get another Security Warning that "The publisher
could not be verified. Are you sure you want to run this software?"
Its name is "strawberry-per-5.20.2.1-32bit msi" and we can
click on "Run" or "Don't Run". Let's click on "Run".
It starts to show a green download transfer, but suddenly it
stops and a "Windows Installer" message says, "This
installation package could not be opened. Contact the
application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows
Installer package." So we go back to where we had the choice
between "Run" and "Save" and this time we click "Run" instead
of "Save." In a space of between two and three minutes,
the package downloads into a "temporary folder." Then
a Security Warning says, "The publisher could not be verified.
Are you sure you want to run this software?" Let's click "Run."
Now it says "preparing to install" and "wait for the set-up wizard."
Finally it says "The Setup Wizard will install Strawberry Perl
on your computer. Click Next to continue or Cancel to exit Setup."
Well, I have a complaint. Why did the process not work when I
tried to "Save" the download instead of merely "Running" it
for what I was afraid would be one single time? Why is the process
of installing Perl so obfuscated and so counter-intuitive?
Well anyway, let's click on "Next" and get with the program.
Next we have to click the checkbox for "I accept the terms in
the License Agreement." Now for a Destination Folder the
Strawberry Perl Setup says to "Click Next to install to the
default folder or click Change to choose another."
C:\Strawberry\ is good enough for Mentifex here.
Then we "Click Install to begin the installation."
Oops. "Error reading from file
C:\Documents and Settings\Arthur\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IR5\R6BYZW40\strawberry-perl-5.20.2.1-32bit[1].msi. Verify
that the file exists and that you can access it." Now we have
ended prematurely because of an error. Then we went back again
to the initial download process and we went with "Run" instead of
"Save," and wonder of wonders, we were able to download Perl.
We will "Click the Finish button to exit the Setup Wizard,"
and we will read the Release Notes and the README file" available
from the start menu. Aha! Upon clicking the Windows XP "start"
button, we proceed into "All Programs" through "Strawberry Perl" to
Strawberry Perl README in a Notepad file on-screen.
Sun.12.APR.2015 -- Learning to program Perl Strong AI
Now we have to figure out how to run a program in Perl. We go to
Learning Perl at
http://learn.perl.org.
The page
http://learn.perl.org/first_steps says to check
that you have Perl installed by entering
perl -v and so we actually do
C:\Strawberry\perl -v and it works! It says
"This is perl 5, version 20, subversion 2 (v5.20.2)" etc.
Next with the MS-DOS make-directory "md" command we
md perl_tests to create a "perl_tests" subdirectory.
Then we open the Notepad text editor and we create a file that
we call not hello_world.pl but rather mind0001.pl because
we want to start programming Perl artificial intelligence immediately.
C:\Strawberry>perl /path/to/perl_tests/mind0001.pl is what
we try to run. At first we get "No such file or directory" but when we
changed directory and entered
C:\Strawberry\perl_tests>perl mind0001.pl we saw:
hi mind0001.pl and so we have run our first Perlmind AI program.
Sun.12.APR.2015 -- Perl Strong AI Resources
http://ai.neocities.org/PMPJ.html
http://mind.sourceforge.net/perl.html
http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/M/ME/MENTIFEX/mind.txt
http://cyborg.blogspot.com/2015/04/pmpj0412.html
http://www.reddit.com/r/perl
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