Re: Migrating from Perl to other language? Why would someone do that?

I have heard the same from Management and fellow developers over the last 5 years or so, eg. "we should start new development in Python or Java".

Reasons why I believe this is so:

Python is often taught in universities, Perl is not. So it's more likely to find someone, especially a recent graduate, who can "hit the ground running" in that language.
Most APIs normally have a library in Python rather than Perl (from what I can see anyway - although normally you can find something on CPAN - but "path of least resistance")
Go into any bookshop and find the "Computing" section - I think you will see more Python books than Perl. OK, I'll find a book online to learn Mojolicious or Dancer... oh, there isn't any. Whats that? There is one but it is in German?
there seems to be more Python jobs than Perl jobs (so "everyone is recognizing Python as the way to go")
Python/Django has a lot of mindshare among large web-apps. I can't think of a single well-known website using Perl with Dancer/Mojolicious/Catalyst. I do know these frameworks are used internally in many organizations though but they don't get the same exposure.
Python is the defacto language to do stuff with the Raspberry Pi, the wildly popular cheap computer.
comments I've heard from other developers: "Perl is not a modern langauge, so I use Python", "what are all those symbols/sigils? Yuck."
Perl (the community) has a perception of being a bit elitetist and not n00b friendly. Look at PerlMonks for god sake, to post this I need to use "PerlMonks-approved HTML".
Being a developer has become a lot more accessible so you don't have to be a massive geek and wear a huge beard to write something. I can get Ubuntu and install it for free easily and it'll "just work", clone code from github and away I go. No longer do I have to hand-hack my X86 config, compile my Perl and waste hours with Makefiles. Such neo-geeks are going to want something that lets them be productive and they look at what is popular or "#trending".
Good Perl people are getting harder and more expensive to find.
Perl/CGI/mod_perl was at one time the go-to technology: now there is now more choice among web frameworks: Python/Django, PHP/CodeIgniter/Sli, Ruby/Sinatra etc etc - all with proven sites out there and large vibrant user communities, books, training courses etc
Comment on Re: Migrating from Perl to other language? Why would someone do that?

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Re^2: Migrating from Perl to other language? Why would someone do that? by marto (Cardinal) on Jan 07, 2015 at 13:17 UTC
To respond to some of these statements: Python is often taught in universities, Perl is not. A relative teaches Perl for bioinformatics at one local university. This is not part of the CS dept. I don't think this statement can be accurate. Python is the defacto language to do stuff with the Raspberry Pi, the wildly popular cheap computer. Perl is installed by default. What can you do with Python that can't be done with Perl on the Pi? Perl (the community) has a perception of being a bit elitetist and not n00b friendly. Look at PerlMonks for god sake, to post this I need to use "PerlMonks-approved HTML". Having spent some time in other communities in the last month while investigating some things my experience of this is that other communities are more elitist than the perl community. YMMV. Being a developer has become a lot more accessible so you don't have to be a massive geek and wear a huge beard to write something. I can get Ubuntu and install it for free easily and it'll "just work", clone code from github and away I go. No longer do I have to hand-hack my X86 config, compile my Perl and waste hours with Makefiles. Such neo-geeks are going to want something that lets them be productive and they look at what is popular or "#trending". What do you have to 'hand-hack' to work using perl? Avoiding the system perl is wise but it's trivial to install your own perl elsewhere. Perlbrew automates the task. Good Perl people are getting harder and more expensive to find. Good people are getting harder to find, for various definitions of the word good. This isn't a perl problem. Perl/CGI/mod_perl was at one time the go-to technology: now there is now more choice among web frameworks: Python/Django, PHP/CodeIgniter/Sli, Ruby/Sinatra etc etc - all with proven sites out there and large vibrant user communities, books, training courses etc There are more modern Perl frameworks, why didn't you mention them? Update: fixed typo.	[reply]
Re^2: Migrating from Perl to other language? Why would someone do that? by salva (Canon) on Jan 07, 2015 at 13:32 UTC
Is Python as good as Perl? Are you going to become as productive programming in Python as you are now in Perl? Are you going to like it? I have tried several times to like Python, and failed every single one... I missed the expressiveness and conciseness of Perl all the time... and then there are the scoping issues!!!	[reply]
Re^3: Migrating from Perl to other language? Why would someone do that? by LanX (Saint) on Jan 07, 2015 at 14:19 UTC
> have tried several times to like Python, and failed every single one Same with me... > scoping issues!!! And castrated lamdas! And the fact the larger installations seem to need multiple python versions installed in parallel. While Perl cares to run 20 year old P4 code, others don't seem to care much about backwards compatibility. Furthermore pypi which is mess compared to cpan. Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :)}	[reply]