PDF Searching Programmes
I am trying to write some programmes to search PDFs from directories.
I am hoping to use:
- Bash
- Python
- Perl
- Ruby
I have done the first two, and am timing them now (from ~/Desktop/Study/.../2018/Tri\ 2/, searching for allport):
| Bash | Python | |
|---|---|---|
| 49.80 seconds | 119.56 seconds | |
| 42.87 seconds | 118.58 seconds | |
| 43.82 seconds | 124.00 seconds | |
| Average: | 45.50 seconds | 120.71 seconds |
Note that I did Bash → Py → Bash..., not Bash × 3 → Py × 3.
On average, my Bash script was 2.65 times faster than my python one.
A note from the future: once I figured out the logic required to do such a task as this, this was my first good practice with different languages, learning the syntax of these different languages.
More notes on different languages, from mid-October 2019
I want to write more PDF-searchers, for my own edification more than for their functionality. Here are some notes on the strengths of different languages, and my method for PDF-searches.
Why use Perl?
- Text manipulation and data wrangling is easy and fast!
- Good for "glue" projects in two disparate systems
- The most complete language
Why use Ruby?
- Automation and scripting
- Data scraping and general crawling
- Mechanise, Cucumber, Capybara, Site Prism, Selenium, Faker, Pry, Watir
- Server management
- General perpose! Even AI: game bots; social moderation
Why use LISP?
- Most programmable; specialised in general purpose!
Why use Elixir?
- Elixir runs on the erlang vm
- Very self-contained
- Functional programming
Why use Rust?
- In sys-programmung, memory safe!
- Cargo makes managing crates easy!
- Could replace C++
Why use Lua?
- Lua is faster to develope that C++ and doesn't require compiling!
How I am writing PDF-searches:
- PDF → text with set file and search string
- Search file for search string
- Print whether or not found
- Make search string arg
- Make loop in walk dirs + subdirs
- Print all PDFs for which found; count and print times found on x PDFs
- Time script
- Print help output.