Programing Question ? why python, perl, ruby ect and not C, Java,.... ect?

James Miller

New member
Why do allot of computer security people / hackers do most of there coding in python and perl or ruby?

why dont they use java or C C# C++ vb or anything like that?

i know they call python a powerfull scripting/programing language but so is C is it not?

im choosing to learn python as im watching the cbt nuggets video "python programing language" as my first language and then im taking on perl. I use backtrack allot and can do quite a bit of things with it. I just think programing would take me to a hole new level. I want to learn how to program buffer overflows and make my own exploits with immunity debugger. Im taking computer security this coming Sept and want to prep myself for whats coming up. So i guess my main question is just wondered why python and perl?

is it because u have to compile c and java and that takes time? the code is more complex and longer to write?

let me know thanks in advance
 
The most expensive thing a computer can do is start a process.
And when you have a C/C++ program being started by every HTTP connection (think about big sites that have a thousand hits a minute) you're talking big-time server choke. Some web programmers evolve their products to always have the C/C++/C# (I've even seen pascal) programs always running and use inter-process communications to process web requests, but this requires the development of your own protocols, which can be quite involved.

Scripts (like Perl & Python) start much faster and Apache and IBM HTTP Server (really Apache) have modules for always keeping a pool of interpreters available.

Java is extremely expensive to start as a CGI program but that's what IBM WebSphere Bea Systems and Apache Web Services address - the JVM is always running within the Web Server tree.

As far as the academic subject of "computer security" goes, there's lots of topics - you might want to narrow it down to one or two and get good at those, otherwise you'll be spread out pretty thin. Here's just a partial list of computing security topics;

Authentication, Access Control & Encryption
Cloud Computing
Content Security (Email & FTP)
Firewalls & VPNs
Intrusion Detection
LAN Security
Viruses, trojans and other malware
Web Application Security
Server Security
Wireless App (those pesky SmartPhones) Security

HTH
 
The most expensive thing a computer can do is start a process.
And when you have a C/C++ program being started by every HTTP connection (think about big sites that have a thousand hits a minute) you're talking big-time server choke. Some web programmers evolve their products to always have the C/C++/C# (I've even seen pascal) programs always running and use inter-process communications to process web requests, but this requires the development of your own protocols, which can be quite involved.

Scripts (like Perl & Python) start much faster and Apache and IBM HTTP Server (really Apache) have modules for always keeping a pool of interpreters available.

Java is extremely expensive to start as a CGI program but that's what IBM WebSphere Bea Systems and Apache Web Services address - the JVM is always running within the Web Server tree.

As far as the academic subject of "computer security" goes, there's lots of topics - you might want to narrow it down to one or two and get good at those, otherwise you'll be spread out pretty thin. Here's just a partial list of computing security topics;

Authentication, Access Control & Encryption
Cloud Computing
Content Security (Email & FTP)
Firewalls & VPNs
Intrusion Detection
LAN Security
Viruses, trojans and other malware
Web Application Security
Server Security
Wireless App (those pesky SmartPhones) Security

HTH
 
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