Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
P is for Practical
 
PerlMonks  

Re: Is Perl a good career move?

by dragonchild (Archbishop)
on Jan 13, 2005 at 14:19 UTC ( [id://421973]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Is Perl a good career move?

Another problem is that Perl is kind of a dead end in terms of moving to other languages.

Really? As a result of programming in Perl, I will have a much easier time of moving to Smalltalk or LISP. Why? Because I now understand the fundamentals behind real object-oriented or functional programming.

My friends know for sure there'll be Java positions.

Yeah, and ColdFusion was never going away, either. VRML was the wave of the future and Flash will revolutionize the web. There are very few things that will never go away:

  • Systems administration, especially large heterogenous setups
  • Database administration, especially large heterogenous setups
  • Data loading, especially across large heterogenous setups

Perl is ideally suited for all three tasks. It is the ONLY language in the world that can be written once and run on over 200 different systems without changing a single character. Java cannot say that.

Plus, a language isn't a career path. That would be like saying "If you knew a mechanic who knew a bit about Fords and a bit about Toyotas, which would you recommend him specializing in?" That's a dumb question, huh?

Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Is Perl a good career move?
by CloneArmyCommander (Friar) on Jan 13, 2005 at 21:23 UTC
    Yeah, and ColdFusion was never going away, either. VRML was the wave of the future and Flash will revolutionize the web. There are very few things that will never go away:

    But, we all know that COBOL will make a come back ;).

    I chose the computer science field simply for the fact that there is always something new to learn. I have found it easy to move from one language to the next as long as you adapt your mindset. Anyone who argues whether one language is better than another and how long it will be around needs to approach the subject with an open mind (which I am very pleased to find Muntant doing). Each language has a specific job, even field, it is good for. If I find myself in doubt, I learn both :).
Re^2: Is Perl a good career move?
by Mutant (Priest) on Jan 13, 2005 at 14:34 UTC

    I'm not saying I couldn't learn Java in a matter of weeks (actually, I already know a little bit as it is..), but could I get a job as a Java programmer tomorrow? Even if I go away and fork out for a 3 month course, who's a Java employer going to hire? Me with several years Perl experience and a 3 month course in Java, or someone else with several years Java experience?

    I might be sounding pessimistic here, but I honestly don't know the answers to these questions.

      That isn't comparing apples with apples in my book. Regardless of the language an employer will always pick the person most suited for the job. If someone has several years experience of your core system then you will pick them for your shortlist of candidates. Simple.

A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.

Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Node Status?
node history
Node Type: note [id://421973]
help
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others admiring the Monastery: (5)
As of 2024-03-28 20:17 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found